Yu Gi Oh: Tilting the Balance
by Man Called True
Summary: Sequel to Cyber Commander's Yu Gi Oh: The Thousand Year Door. One year later, Darkness threatens all that is. This time, however, the hero is a little... unusual. DISCONTINUED DUE TO UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTIES
1. The Laziest Duelist Alive

Good whatever-time-it-is. You may call me the Man Called True. If you're reading this, you know the story's title, so I won't waste our time repeating it.

The rules this story will use are simple: to my fullest understanding, they will follow the rules of the real TCG. 8,000 Life Points, Tributes for monsters of Level 5 or higher, monsters must be Set to be played in Defense Mode, Rituals and Fusions require the proper Ritual or Fusion Monster card, Fusion and Ritual Monsters don't need to wait a turn before attacking, and so forth. The only true divergence is the Image system, which will be explained on its first appearance.

Because I hate the term "Spell Card", I'm calling cards of that type "Magic Cards", as per the old name.

Most real cards will have their real effects. The prime exception is Card of Sanctity, which uses its show effect. Other exceptions may occur. (Allow me to take this opportunity to apologize in advance if I fudge a card's rulings.)

I will be using show and created cards from time to time. All stats for such will appear at the end of the chapter in which the cards first appear.

This story is set one year after Cyber Commander's "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Thousand-Year Door". By the series timeline, it is after the KC Grand Prix and before Pharaoh's Memories. In calendar years, it takes place in the early summer of 2005.

Under the MPAA system, this story would be rated PG-13; by this site and the ESRB's standards, it would be rated T. It contains explicit language, violence (both hologrammatic and physical),adult themes, and religious themes that may offend some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

I think that covers everything, so I'll shut up and let the story do the talking. Strap in, my friends...

_**Go ahead and call me what you want. I'm used to it by now.**_

_**They call me Gerald Laxina, the Laziest Duelist Alive. To be honest, I guess it's a fair assessment. I am the only duelist ever disqualified for falling asleep in the middle of a match, after all.**_

_**But I wasn't born lazy. I was a fairly active kid… but when my parents started to move around a lot, my life started to go far too fast. My instinctive reaction was to put on the brakes. I learned the value of patience at a young age – just relax, and let life do its work, and everything comes together. Everything's eventual.**_

_**Or so I like to think. It's my motto.**_

_**There are two famous stories about me, and both are true. The first story is that I got into the dueling business when another duelist, having lost to a Yata-Garasu lock, threw his deck down and it landed next to me. The second is that I lucked into my strongest card when it turned out to be a bookmark in someone's library book.**_

_**I'm one of the strongest duelists in the United States, having won state championships in sixteen of the continental forty-eight by the age of nineteen. Everything seemed about normal…**_

_**And then the Monster Island tournament came about.**_

**Yu-Gi-Oh: Tilting the Balance**

**Written by Man Called True**

**A sequel to "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Thousand-Year Door" by Cyber Commander**

**Prologue: The Laziest Duelist Alive**

The place: Trenton, New Jersey.

The time: 4:43 P.M.

The event: The New Jersey State Duel Monsters Championships, final round.

On one side of the field was a revved-up teenager named Lawrence Nobel, a boy in blue shirt and pants who was staring at the field with a look of hatred. He currently had three monsters in play: Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Beta the Magnet Warrior, and one monster facedown. He had no facedown cards, and his current Life Points were 5,600.

And strapped to his chest was a small box with the number 5 in bright red lights on the center.

Across the field sat a young man with mussed brown hair, leaning forward in his chair. The young man wore gray clothes, and he had slid his feet out of his loafers. Currently, his field consisted of a Wall of Revealing Light at 3,000, a facedown monster, and two facedown cards. He had 2,300 Life Points left.

At the moment, he was snoring softly.

"Gerald Laxina, you have thirty seconds to make your move or be disqualified!" declared the loudspeaker.

Gerald raised his head, shook it to clear the cobwebs out, and said, "Oh, sorry about that." He took a card from his hand and set it on the Disk. "One monster in facedown Defense Mode. End turn."

The counter on Lawrence's chest clicked to 4.

"You punk! Two more turns is all I need to finish this!" Lawrence drew and then smiled. "I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode!"

The Magnet Warrior rose into play, hefting its sword. (1500/1800) Its brother Magnet Warriors looked to each other and nodded.

"I suppose you're going to summon Valkyrion now?" Gerald said, his usual tired drawl developing a bored edge.

Lawrence snickered. "You bet!" he replied. "I sacrifice all three of my Magnet Warriors to summon the mighty Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!"

The three Magnet Warriors disassembled, their pieces spinning around each other. Somehow, from this chaotic start, they began to form a complete being, one much larger and more powerful than the sum of its parts. A moment later, from the chaos descended Valkyrion, blade at the ready. (3500/3850)

One of Gerald's eyebrows rose. "Impressive," he muttered.

"You know it!" Lawrence answered. "And she's more than powerful enough to beat your Wall of Revealing Light! Valkyrion, attack with Magnetic Pulse Blade!"

Valkyrion raised her mighty sword, turned it point-down, and impaled Gerald's left facedown monster. The Magician of Faith appeared on the end of the sword for a second before shattering.

"Well, so much for her," Gerald thought aloud. He showed the Pot of Greed he was retrieving to his opponent and slid it into his hand.

"That's it for my turn," Lawrence stated. The number on his chest went down to 3.

Looking at his latest draw, Gerald said, "I play the Pot of Greed." He drew his two cards, glanced to them, and then said, "My turn ends now."

The counter clicked to 2.

Sweating, Lawrence drew another card, and then set his hand down and pumped his fist. "You are _so_ finished! First, I activate Valkyrion's special ability!"

"That thing has a special ability?" Gerald asked.

Suddenly, Valkyrion exploded into her component parts, which began to rebuild into the Magnet Warriors.

"Forget I asked…" Gerald muttered.

Lawrence grinned and explained: "By sacrificing Valkyrion, I can bring back the three Magnet Warriors I gave up to bring her out! Next, I play Monster Reborn to retrieve Valkyrion herself!"

Even as he said it, the Magnet Warriors were back in full force, weapons raised. From the ground beside them rose Valkyrion, who slid the flat side of her sword along her palm.

"And finally," Lawrence declared, "I can Tribute the Magnet Warriors for another Valkyrion!"

Once again, the three Magnet Warriors shattered into their component parts, which whirled about before reforming into the Magna Warrior herself.

Gerald looked to his Duel Disk and then shrugged. "This is your last turn," he said. "You have no choice but to attack."

"Damn straight!" Lawrence said. "First Valkyrion, attack his facedown monster!"

The Magna Warrior raised her blade and slammed it into Gerald's facedown monster. It briefly appeared as a shiny turtle before shattering.

Laughing, Lawrence declared, "And now, second Valkyrion, attack his Life Points directly and win this duel!"

But even as Valkyrion raised her sword to land the finishing blow, a sudden wave of electricity filled the room, temporarily blinding the audience. It also blinded the referee, the sponsors, and Lawrence. The only person in the room who looked away at the right time was Gerald.

As the light cleared, Lawrence blinked several times, clearing his vision. He then looked to Gerald's Life Point counter.

It still read 2,300.

"How did you survive that?" Lawrence yelled.

"The monster you destroyed was Electromagnetic Turtle," Gerald answered in his usual drawl. "When it is sent to the Graveyard, I can end your Battle Phase that turn whenever I wish. And I chose right when you attacked me with the other Valkyrion."

The truth of the situation sank in. "I lose," Lawrence whispered. "I can't do anything to beat you now."

"Is that your turn?" Gerald asked.

Numbly, Lawrence nodded.

Drawing again, Gerald sighed. "I shouldn't do this to you," he said, "but I can't resist. I play the magic card named Special Hurricane."

As he played the card, gale-force winds tore across the field. Lawrence shivered, and then a gust decapitated his Valkyrions. "What happened?" he called out.

"By discarding one card from my hand," Gerald explained, "I can destroy all Special Summoned monsters in play. Valkyrion can only be Special Summoned, and thus this spells the end for both of them."

The wind cleared, and the scattered pieces of the Magna Warriors shattered. Lawrence gulped.

Taking a deep breath, Gerald exhaled and said, "I end my turn, so the Final Countdown reaches zero. I win."

The box on Lawrence's chest reached zero, and a computerized voice declared, "_Final Countdown complete. Duel end._"

With that, the box exploded, throwing Lawrence to the floor as his Life Points fell to zero.

There was a pause, and then the audience roared its applause.

"The winner of the New Jersey State Duel Monsters Championship is… Gerald Laxina!" the loudspeaker blared.

As the applause died down, a very familiar noise filled the room…

The loudspeaker paused, and then said sheepishly, "Would someone please wake up the champion for the awards ceremony?"

**0000000**

The place: Ewing Township, New Jersey.

The time: 8:21 P.M., same day.

Striding through the door of the latest house his family was renting, Gerald Laxina took another look at the trophy he'd carried under his arm. It resembled a number of his other acquisitions, but this one had the New Jersey state flag engraved on the front.

"This makes ten states and six regional," he said under his breath. "And yet I'm never around to defend it the next year…"

He set the trophy down on the kitchen table with a thump. Even as he did so, his mother walked in, still drying a dish in one hand.

"Oh, you're back? It took you a while," she said.

Glancing to a clock, Gerald shrugged. "The awards ceremony ran long."

Reaching up, Gerald's mother tugged one blonde curl. "The awards… you won?" She then dropped the dish.

Having expected that, Gerald shot a foot out, catching the falling flatware on the toe of his loafer. "Yes, mother," he said. He then twitched his foot, sending the plate into the air.

His mother caught it, leaned forward, and kissed his cheek. "Well, congratulations," she said. "By the way… there's a package on the table addressed to you. It came in the mail today."

"All right," Gerald said. Turning to said table, he picked up a golden envelope. "'Sydney Meyers, Rogueport, Monster Island'? Interesting…"

Slitting the envelope open with his thumbnail, he slid out the contents.

**0000000**

Somewhere in the world, two men reclined in their chairs, watching Gerald reading his invitation to the Monster Island tournament via a strange set of mirrors. One wore black, the other green.

The one on the left, in the black, tapped the bridge of his sunglasses. "Mind telling me why we're spying on the lazy guy and not on the Three Heroes?"

"Because he may yet be a threat to us," the man in green, on the right of the mirrors, said, cracking a smile, "while the Three Heroes will actually be a benefit."

"How so?"

"Remember what I told you about the Balance?"

The man in black shut his eyes for a moment, and then grinned. "Oh, you are devious, my friend," he said. "So, so devious…"

"I was taught by the best," the man in green replied.

**0000000**

The place: just off Chesapeake Bay.

The time: 12:01 P.M, some few days later.

All throughout the ship, duelists were chatting, making friends, declaring threats, and the usual activity of a social mixer… with one exception.

Gerald Laxina had swiftly occupied a deck chair, and was dozing calmly, his sleep aided by the gentle rocking motions of the ship.

**0000000**

The place: Rogueport.

The time: 9:43 A.M.

After the debriefing, Gerald, understandably, didn't rush off to find a duel. As a matter of fact, he hadn't rushed anywhere. He was currently leaning against a building, napping briefly.

Unbeknownst to Gerald, an old man with frizzy gray hair stopped his secretive movements and looked at him.

"Oh, ho, ho… Y-You w-won't find m-much here, Mr. L-Laxina," the old man whispered, "b-but destiny has s-something s-special p-planned for y-you..."

With that, he slid away unnoticed.

**0000000**

The place: Glitzville.

The time: 11:51 A.M., two days later.

"_Final Countdown complete. Duel end._"

An explosion was barely audible above the usual background noise, but when the smoke cleared, a terrified young woman stared at her opponent, legs shaking. Her Life Point meter took a dive to zero.

"That's my victory," said Gerald, leaning back against the bench he was sitting on.

The young woman blinked, and then screamed, "How could I lose to a lazy bastard like _you?_" Throwing the Crystal Card at him, she turned and stormed away, audibly crying.

Taking the card, Gerald fanned out the other four in his possession and slid his latest acquisition into place. "That makes five," he muttered.

Securely locking up his deck, he fell asleep once again.

**0000000**

The place: the edge of Twilight Town, in the woods.

The time: Late afternoon, several days after that.

Under a tree, Gerald was once again sleeping. Unfortunately, his luck had failed him between the duel with the young woman and this point, and he'd gone down to four Crystal Cards… but his luck had returned, and he'd just won two more off a now-dazed teenager. As usual, he had taken a nap afterwards.

The nap came to a crashing halt as a fairly high-pitched male voice yelled, "Who wants some of Andy Markova?" Gerald blinked awake and sat up, turning in the direction of the yell.

He had seen those three before. They traveled almost as a pack, and he'd caught glimpses of each of them dueling. The one in the back, Stan Mason, irritated him irrationally – perhaps it was just jealousy. The girl, Francesca whatever-her-last-name-was, simply terrified him. It was the deck, he was sure of it – he found her and her theme to be overly militaristic.

But the one who had just yelled, Andy… he liked him. The boy seemed different than the other duelists on this island. Gerald couldn't put his finger on how.

Shrugging, he leaned against the tree again, blinked…

…and woke up to the sound of Andy yelling, "Hey, Rip Van Winkle!"

**0000000**

The time: Thirty minutes later.

Gerald woke up, shaking the cobwebs from his mind. Taking the Crystal Cards from his pocket, he sighed. "Five again," he said.

Just then, he heard a series of footsteps. A man dressed like a samurai was tramping through the forest. Gerald asked, "Excuse me, who are you?"

"My name is Ushio, and I seek an opponent," he replied. "And you are?"

Gerald grinned. "Gerald Laxina. Care to bet two Crystal Cards?"

**0000000**

The time: twenty turns later.

"_Final Countdown complete. Duel end._"

And there was yet another explosion. Gerald Laxina was now eligible for a Crystal Star.

**0000000**

The place: the Wonky Circus, in front of a sold-out crowd.

The time: early evening, the same day as before.

Not for the first time in his life, Gerald Laxina was in over his head. He had a 3,000-point Wall of Revealing Light, a Spell Sanctuary, and a Grand Tiki Elder on the field in Defense Mode, but none were doing him much good. The reasons were self-evident – the Sanctuary had a Mask of Dispel stuck to it, and the Grand Tiki Elder was stuck with a Mask of the Accursed. Gerald's Life Points were currently at 2,100, and sinking fast.

On the plus side, his opponent had furnished him with a very comfortable chair.

Across the floor from him stood an individual in a white, circles-for-eyes-and-mouth mask. Said individual, known as the Shy Guy General, had two facedown monsters – and his magic and trap zones were full. There was a Mask of Dispel, a Mask of the Accursed, a Mask of Restrict, and two facedown cards. His Life Points were at 4,500.

On the General's chest sat the Final Countdown, with eight turns to go, but that no longer mattered.

"Will you make a move?" the General asked.

"I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn," Gerald said, sighing.

Nodding, the General declared, "I draw!"

Both the Masks struck Gerald with energy beams, causing his body to jerk spastically and dropping his Life Points to 1,100.

"Next," the General continued, "I activate my Emergency Provisions, sending my Mask of Restrict to the Graveyard and gaining 1,000 Life Points."

A weird mouth emerged from the Emergency Provisions card, snapping the Mask of Restrict in half. The Shy Guy General's Life Points rose to 5,500.

"With that out of the way," the General continued, "I Tribute my facedown Grand Tiki Elder and Melchid the Four-Faced Beast for Masked Beast Des Guardius!"

The two facedown monsters shattered, and from where they had sat a gigantic silhouette rose to its feet. It had a gigantic set of claws on either hand, and over its face sat a blank white mask. Flexing its muscles, the creature howled. (3,300/2,500)

Gerald began to sweat. Even unenhanced, Des Guardius was more than powerful enough to break through his Wall of Revealing Light. He glanced at his own copy of the card, sitting useless in his hand.

The Shy Guy General tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "Next, I activate Final Attack Orders, forcing the Grand Tiki General into Attack Mode!"

A horn blast filled the air, and the Elder staggered to its feet, hands holding the Mask of the Accursed.

"Finally," the General said, "I equip my Des Guardius with the Mask of Brutality, granting it 1,000 extra Attack Points!"

A hideous mask appeared in Des Guardius's hand. Lowering its head, the beast took off its own mask and slid the Mask of Brutality onto its face. Its muscles bulged, and it roared at the top of its lungs. (4,300/2,500)

Steeling himself, Gerald shut his eyes and curled into a ball.

"Des Guardius," the Shy Guy General declared, "attack with Claw of the Masked!"

Raising one claw, the Masked Beast Des Guardius brought it down hard, shattering the Grand Tiki Elder into a thousand pieces. Gerald's Life Points plunged to zero.

The crowd let out a roar of approval.

When it was all over and the holograms vanished, the Shy Guy General walked up to Gerald's chair. The young man was asleep once again.

"Huh. Most duelists just cry," the General said.

**0000000**

The place: Rogueport.

The time: early the next morning.

One hand tangled in his unusually-mussed brown hair, Gerald glanced at his milkshake. It was half-empty now, and it was also his second since breakfast. Getting kicked from a tournament in one fell swoop was not something he was new to, but the circumstances were a true downer.

"Usually my audience is smaller than that," he muttered, sipping the milkshake again afterwards. "And usually it's not an all-or-nothing affair."

Seeing a similarly-dismayed young man walking past, Gerald signaled to him. "What's gone wrong in your life?" he asked.

"I lost a Crystal Star duel…" the young man replied.

Gerald sighed. "Join the club," he said. "What's your name?"

"Aesop."

"Sit down and relax, then, Aesop. Have a milkshake if you want… I'm buying."

And thus did Gerald find himself at the center of a support group.

**0000000 **

The place: somewhere at sea.

The time: 12:35 P.M., after the tournament's completion.

Most of the duelists aboard the ship home were cementing whatever friendships they had started on the island, cursing their luck, or otherwise reminiscing before it was time to rejoin the real world.

There was one exception.

Gerald Laxina, of course, was the exception. He had found the deckchairs again, and was asleep once more.

**0000000**

And somewhere in the world, the man in black and the man in green watched this last image on the array of mirrors before the man in black snapped his fingers, turning them off. "And so that's that," he said. "Now, remind me why we're so concerned about one lazy young man."

"Because the Light's interested in him," said the man in green. "But enough about him…"

The man in green snapped his fingers, and the mirrors showed another image entirely.

They showed the death of the Shadow Queen.

Both of the men smiled at that. "Oh, what little fools the Three Heroes are," the man in black said. "Don't they know that when you destroy something that steeped in Darkness, you throw the initiative to the other dark sources?"

The man in green shrugged. "They didn't know about the Balance," he answered. "This, of course, is music to our ears."

Pushing his sunglasses back up on the bridge of his nose, the man in black nodded. "Shall we begin the preparations now?"

"Of course. But relax…" the man in green said. "We have all the time in the world."

**ELECTROMAGNETIC TURTLE  
**Type: Effect Monster

Stats?

Image: A turtle with two magnets, one positive and one negative, on its shell.

Effect: If this monster is sent to the Graveyard during your opponent's turn, you may end your opponent's Battle Phase at any time during that turn.

_Note: This card was used by Yugi in the original series episode "Clash in the Coliseum, Pt. 3". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. (I was unable to locate its statistics.)_

_Coming next chapter: One year has passed since the events on Monster Island. Gerald's life seems to have stabilized, and his biggest concern at the moment is dealing with the rude duelist who's interrupted activity at his job. But life can't always be peaceful… Keep an eye out for Chapter One, "His Life as a…". _


	2. His Life as a

_**The Monster Island Tournament was a year ago. I can't remember who won… probably one of those three kids. When you lose a tournament, the winner's identity no longer matters to you.**_

_**My own life resumed its usual hyperactive pace, much to my regret. In case you haven't noticed, I prefer a slower-paced life. And I finally got it about eight months ago.**_

_**So, here I am, in a place I love, doing a job I love. My life has finally settled down.**_

_**This is not going to last, but I can pretend.**_

**Chapter One: His Life as a…**

Augusta, Maine is one of the quieter state capitols in the United States of America. Even the city's own website doesn't have a lot to say about it.

This was why Gerald Laxina liked living there. He preferred quiet.

One month after the Monster Island Tournament, his family had packed up and moved once more, as his parents were reassigned to another job. In Augusta, they had settled as lightly as usual… but Gerald had dug in.

On his first week in town, while wandering, he'd found a bookstore named Fruits of Kozaky's Studies. As the name implied, it had a special emphasis on Duel Monsters, but there was plenty of other information to be found. And there was a Help Wanted sign in the window.

Before the day was out, he had a job.

Four months later, his parents were reassigned once more, but this time Gerald stayed behind. He moved into an apartment just down the street from the bookstore, and for eight months afterward he'd held down the job at Fruits of Kozaky's Studies. It was a quiet life, the kind he'd wanted for ages.

Of course, his life wasn't all book sales and sleeping. He still had hobbies.

He was the State Duel Monsters Champion of Maine now, too.

**0000000**

At 7:00 A.M., the alarm clock in Gerald's bedroom went off. For the seventieth time in as many mornings, he hit the snooze button.

Five minutes later, it went off again. This time, for the first time in ages, he got up instead of hitting the snooze button again. Sighing, he took a pen and checked one column on a piece of paper next to the alarm clock – the column marked "Restless Sleep".

Moving now to his closet, Gerald opened it and looked over the options. All but two of his shirts were gray. "I need better taste," he muttered as he took today's outfit off the hangers.

Breakfast was, as usual, a subdued affair. Between bites out of his bagel, Gerald carefully studied his latest addition to his collection of bonsai trees. He spent nearly a half hour carefully determining which ways to make it grow.

Finally, he lifted the scissors and made two cuts. After another moment, he smiled.

Once that was done, Gerald turned his eyes to the clock. "Time's up," he said to no one in particular (there wasn't anyone there anyway). "Best be off to work."

He didn't rush out the door – Gerald Laxina never did anything fast. It was more of a slide.

**0000000**

Fruits of Kozaky's Studies was a fairly small store, compared to most of the bookstores Gerald had seen. There was a decent sketch of the demonic researcher on the front window, just under the name of the store.

As usual, Gerald had taken his time getting to the store – he arrived five minutes before opening, which, given that he had the keys, was cutting it a bit close. He unlocked, turned the lights on, and slid behind the counter in short order.

Five minutes later, the store was open and he had dozed off behind the register. As the owner was out for the week at a trade show, nobody was there to complain. In addition to that, he'd put out a bell on the counter next to a sign saying, "If the clerk is asleep, hit the bell".

And yet, somehow, he'd managed to keep the job for eight months now.

Half an hour later, someone hit the bell. As expected, Gerald lifted his head, blinking repeatedly. "How may I help you?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

"For starters, you can buy some No-Doz," the bell's ringer replied.

The clerk spun on his chair, eyes narrowed… and then relaxed. "Oh, it's you, Chad…"

**0000000**

The story of how Gerald Laxina and Chad Montmelier had met was a fairly interesting one.

It began in a park just outside Augusta. While admiring the scenery, the lazy duelist happened across a man selling paintings – landscapes, for the most part. One of them caught Gerald's eye, and he purchased it on the spot for twenty dollars.

Even as he was walking away, Gerald noticed the painter being drawn into a game of Duel Monsters… which he swiftly lost. His opponent snatched the twenty dollars out of the painter's pocket, laughing – apparently, they'd made a bet.

Sidling back over, Gerald set the painting down, put on his Duel Disk, and won his money back in short order. He then returned it to the artist, and the two began to talk. As it happened, the two had more interests in common than Duel Monsters and art.

After that day, the two rapidly became the closest friends either of them had – Chad possessed all the energy that Gerald lacked.

On a side note, the landscape painting Gerald purchased that day was currently hanging over his bed in the apartment.

**0000000**

"Some days I wonder how you keep that job," Chad said, grinning. He was a tall fellow, taller than Gerald's six feet, with short blonde hair and a nearly insect-thin frame. As usual, Gerald noted, Chad had once again copied the style of a foregone age – today, judging from the leather jacket, beat-up jeans, and white T-shirt, he'd gone with the '50s tough.

Shrugging, Gerald turned to an incoming customer and began to ring up their purchases. "Luck, I guess. Old Hendricks seems not to care what I do as long as I don't rob the till and nobody complains. We have security cameras, so I don't have to watch the crowd..." He stopped and looked to the customer. "That'll be $6.77." Taking the payment, he made change and turned back to Chad. "In short, it's the perfect job for a lazy man. How's your life going?"

Chad let out a sigh, hunching up his jacket. "I can't seem to get my paintings bought anywhere," he answered. "Let me tell you, being a starving artist anywhere is bad enough, but in Maine it's just embarrassing. At least in New York there's a certain vibe…"

"Yes, the vibe of 'Give me all your money and you won't get hurt,'" Gerald answered, his usual drawl picking up a sarcastic edge. "I lived there between the ages of ten and eleven, and trust me - it's not as glamorous as Hollywood likes to say. Granted, I lived in L.A. from age eight to age nine and it's not that nice either…"

With a nod, Chad leaned against the counter, glancing towards the ceiling. "Well, that as it may be, I still pray I make it big. If I have to work in the hardware store another month, I swear to the Muses that I'll go insane."

"Go ahead," Gerald said. "It probably wouldn't hurt your career."

"Har-de-fricking-har, Gerald."

Another customer moved up to the counter, and Gerald proceeded to ring up her purchases. "'Rendezvous with Rama', Arthur C. Clarke – that's a classic… 'The Mote in God's Eye', never read that one myself… 'Foundation', Isaac Asimov, brilliant… 'Beginning Duelist's Manual', where was that when I got into the game…" He smirked at the girl across the counter. "Do I sense a machine deck on the horizon?"

The girl merely blushed.

"Speaking of Duel Monsters," Gerald said, looking to Chad, "how's 'All Creatures Big and Unpleasant' coming along?"

Chad smirked, adjusting his jacket as he answered, "It's finished and tested. I waltzed through some of the guys at the local game shop."

"That's good to hear…" Gerald then sighed and took his deck out from under the counter, spreading its cards out.

"Something wrong?"

After letting out another sigh, Gerald nodded. "I think it's time to retire the Final Countdown deck," he said. "I've dueled with it 176 times. 154 wins, twenty-two losses… That's a pretty good record, and now I'm tired of it. It's time to move on."

Chad shrugged. "Your choice, I guess. Any ideas what you'll play next?"

"Well…"

Before Gerald could finish his thought, the door swung open and trouble walked in. In this case, "trouble" was a young woman in bright red tube-top and black jeans, with a pair of sunglasses balanced on the tip of her oddly long nose. Her hair was short and blonde, and she moved like she had a grudge against the ground she walked on.

Moving up to the counter, the girl shoved Chad aside and leaned forward, staring across at Gerald. "Remember me?"

"Sadly, yes," the clerk answered. "You would be Valerie Pemgast, the 'poor little rich girl' who I caught shoplifting last Tuesday. Refresh my memory…" He yawned. "Didn't I ban you from coming back here for the rest of your life?"

Valerie laughed behind her hand, and then shifted her sunglasses. "Why should I let your word stop me? This is a free country."

"Because I happen to work here and you don't?" Gerald drummed his fingers on the counter, eyes narrowing. "Now be gone before I have to make a few phone calls."

This time Valerie didn't even bother to hide her laugh. She looked around, and then spotted the girl whose purchases Gerald had rung up a few minutes ago. Swiping the top book off the pile, she snorted. "'Beginning Duelist Manual?'" she said derisively. "If you have to learn from a book, why bother?" She set the book back on the pile and then shoved the girl to the ground.

Most of Gerald's patience had evaporated when Valerie walked through the door. The last grain disappeared at the sight of the girl hitting the ground. Reaching under the counter, he took out his Duel Disk.

The rich girl smiled. "Oh, so now you want to duel me?"

"Should you win," Gerald said in answer, "you may stay here. If you lose, however, you must immediately leave and never return. Or I will call the cops."

Taking a cell phone-sized piece of metal from her pocket, Valerie pressed a red button on the side. The metal suddenly expanded and unfolded, revealing a wafer-thin Duel Disk when it was done.

Chad whistled. "A Pocket Disk," he muttered. "Those do not come cheap."

The girl who Valerie had pushed scrambled to her feet and moved aside, inadvertently joining the crowd – as usual, the idea of a duel had attracted publicity.

Meanwhile, Valerie smirked, hissing, "I know your strategy – I was at the State Championships. Your Final Countdown won't even reach ten turns!"

After a moment's thought, Gerald took another deck out from under the counter, sliding it into his Duel Disk. Taking a few cards from his old deck, he slid them into the new one, withdrawing a few as he did so.

With a nervous twinge in his voice, Chad asked, "Is that the challenge deck we were working on?"

Having regained his composure, Gerald answered in his usual drawl: "I might as well. I was already bored with the old deck, remember?" He then shifted on his seat and said to Valerie, "Let's duel."

Both Life Point counters went to 8,000.

_That challenge deck isn't finished! _Chad thought to himself. _It's got 40 cards, but we never settled on a strategy for it! Man, I hope Gerald knows what he's doing…_

"I will begin," Gerald said, "by setting one monster face-down in Defense Mode and setting a card facedown. My turn ends." His played cards appeared on the field.

Laughing, Valerie drew. "Let me show you a real opening play! I summon Hydrogeddon in Attack Mode!"

What appeared to be an ankylosaurus made of flowing mud rose into view, burbling as it did so. (1600/1000)

"I see," Gerald said. "You do realize I can predict every move you're going to make from here on out, right?"

Valerie laughed again. "Be that as it may, you can't _stop_ them! Hydrogeddon, attack with Hydrogen Cannon!"

Inhaling, the dinosaur let out a blast of brown water from its mouth. It splashed harmlessly off of the target… which seemed to be an effigy of a man made from burned-out logs.

Shaking his head, Gerald explained, "You just attacked my Charcoal Inpachi, the ultimate barbeque grill. That's 2100 Defense Points, so not only did the attack fail, but you just hurt yourself."

Valerie's Life Points sank to 7,500. She hissed and set a card facedown, waving for Gerald to go.

Drawing his next card, Gerald smiled and said, "I tribute my Charcoal Inpachi for a face-down monster, and set another card facedown. That's it for me." The Charcoal Inpachi vanished, replaced by another face-down monster.

"I won't be tricked!" Valerie declared, drawing again. "Now I use the ability of Gilasaurus – I can Special Summon it from my hand, but it lets you Special Summon a monster from your Graveyard. I'm not afraid of a little hibachi, so I don't care!"

A small, thin dinosaur skittered into view. (1400/400) Meanwhile, on Gerald's field, the Charcoal Inpachi rose back into the game in Defense Mode. (0/2100)

Glancing at her hand, Valerie took two cards. "I set one card facedown, and then I summon Balloon Lizard in Attack Mode!"

There was a moment's pause, and then a bloated lizard floated down from above. (400/1900)

"And that's it," Valerie concluded.

As he drew again, Gerald nodded to Chad, and then said, "I summon Inpachi in Attack Mode."

Several logs clattered onto the field, and then pulled themselves together. The end result was a humanoid figure made of cut logs, which made a hollow noise as they thumped together. (1600/1900)

In mock fear, Valerie cried out, "Oh, crap! I summoned Balloon Lizard in Attack Mode!"

A low sigh escaped Gerald's lips before he explained, "I'm not an idiot, Valerie. If I attacked Balloon Lizard, you'd activate a trap to defend it so that you could exploit its effect when I _did_ destroy it. However, I'm guessing you're not so concerned about your Gilasaurus. Inpachi, attack Gilasaurus with Wood Clobber."

Marching forward, the wooden man spun its arm twice and then brought it down hard on the Gilasaurus's head, smashing the raptor to the ground. It struck again and again until the monster exploded into triangles.

"I guessed correctly," Gerald said, smirking, as Valerie's Life Points slipped to 7,300. "Your move."

Drawing again, Valerie hissed as she opened the field slot on her Duel Disk. "You'll wipe that smirk off your face soon enough! I play the field magic card Wasteland, granting all dinosaurs an attack bonus!"

All around the two duelists, the ground began to dry out and crack. Slowly, the tile floor transformed into a parched landscape, steam raising from it as though the sun beat mercilessly upon the ground. The Hydrogeddon let out a sound of satisfaction as its power rose. (1800/1200)

"Now, how much punishment can your wooden man take?" Valerie asked. "Hydrogeddon, attack the Inpachi with Hydrogen Cannon!"

Inhaling, the Hydrogeddon fired a blast of water at the log creation. The impact scattered the Inpachi into its component logs, one of which struck Gerald in the stomach. His Life Points slid to 7,800.

"Now that my Hydrogeddon has destroyed a monster in battle," Valerie continued, "its special ability calls out another Hydrogeddon from my deck!"

Indeed, even as she said it, a swirl of fairly unpleasant-looking water dripped from her deck, solidifying as another Hydrogeddon. (1800/1200)

Looking over the twin Hydrogeddons, Chad said, "I've always wondered what those things are made of. I'm probably better off not knowing…"

After a quick overview of her field, Valerie waved for Gerald to move.

With a nod, he drew his next card and weighed his options. "Hmmmm…" He then grinned, and played his next card. "I play Dark Designator. Now I can name one monster, and if you have it in your deck, you have to add it to your hand. And I'll name Oxygeddon."

Everyone turned and stared at Gerald, with the occasional murmur of, "Is he _crazy?_" passing through the crowd.

Even Valerie was confused at first, but she quickly answered, "That I do have," and took her deck out of her Duel Disk, searching for the named card and setting it into her hand.

"Now I set one monster in Defense Mode," Gerald finished, "and that will be my turn."

Looking at her cards, Valerie groaned. _Well, I have the three main pieces to my best move, _she thought, _but I'm missing the trigger._ "Since you gave it to me, I might as well play it," she said aloud. "I summon Oxygeddon in Attack Mode!"

A gust of wind gathered a bunch of clouds together. After a moment, they took the shape of a pterodactyl, which cawed at its opponent. (2000/1000)

"Bad idea," Gerald said at that point, pressing a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my face-down card, Karma Cut. Now, by discarding one card from my hand, I can remove one monster on your field from the game. I think I'll choose Oxygeddon."

A portal swirled into being behind Oxygeddon. Slowly, it drew the dinosaur into itself… and then a giant heart appeared on Valerie's field. It beat twice, and then the third beat shut the portal down, freeing the gaseous dinosaur.

"You set off my trap, Jurassic Heart!" Valerie yelled. "It negates and destroys traps that try to affect my dinosaurs!"

"Ah." Gerald was now regretting his earlier move.

Cursing to herself, Valerie glanced over Gerald's field and then said, "My turn ends for now."

Gerald drew and said, "I pass."

On her next draw, Valerie glanced at her card, and then broke into laughter. Her laughing continued, until she nearly doubled over where she stood.

"That is never a good thing," Gerald said to himself.

After regaining her self-control, the girl held up the card she'd just drawn… one with a beaker in its picture. She then declared, "I play Bonding H2O, which lets me sacrifice one Oxygeddon and two Hydrogeddons to summon, from my Deck, my all-powerful **_Water Dragon!_**"

Everyone in the crowd took two steps back.

On a bizarre impulse, the Hydrogeddons stepped close together. The Oxygeddon descended onto them, and then the three melted into each other. For a moment, there was merely an unidentifiable blob, and then it flashed into one long chain of water. The water rose around Valerie, and suddenly Gerald was looking up at a massive, serpentine dragon made entirely of water. It roared. He shuddered. (2800/2600)

"Water Dragon," Valerie ordered, "destroy his Charcoal Inpachi!"

The rush of water drowned out all other noises as the sea serpent moved to obey her order. It charged forward, and in one tidal surge, the Charcoal Inpachi's frame was obliterated. The resulting pieces of coal were swept away by the water.

"Bad luck for you that was in Defense Mode," Gerald noted.

Valerie smirked as she replied, "Not that it matters. All I have to do is pummel away until you can't defend any more. My turn ends now."

Drawing his next card, Gerald blinked twice. _Well… just the card I needed for the situation._ "I set a card face-down and end my own turn," he declared.

After drawing, Valerie said, "I set one monster in face-down Defense Mode, and order Water Dragon to take out your left face-down monster!"

_Which one is that?_ Gerald asked himself. After a glance to his Duel Disk, his eyes widened. _That's exactly what I needed to happen._

The Water Dragon roared, and then launched itself across the field again. This time, its rampage tore apart a man-shaped set of logs held together with iron plating, throwing pieces of them every which way.

Gerald clucked his tongue. "Bad move, Valerie," he said. "Very bad move."

"How so?" she asked. "I just trashed your Woodborg Inpachi."

"I _needed_ it trashed," he replied, activating one of his face-down cards; it showed a Pendulum Machine exploding and Mega Thunderballs emerging from within it. "Because now I can activate my trap card, Spark Gathering."

_That card wasn't in the deck before!_ Chad thought. _He must've added it when I wasn't here. I wonder what strategy he built the deck around…_

Gulping, Valerie asked, "What does Spark Gathering do?"

"This trap only works when a Machine-type monster of Level Five or more is destroyed by any means," Gerald explained, searching his deck. As he withdrew three cards, he continued, "Now I may Special Summon up to three Thunder-type monsters of Level Three or less from my Deck in Attack Mode. So it's time to greet the Batterymen AA."

Three sparks bounced around the field, moving too fast for any details to be seen. Finally, however, they slowed to a stop, landing on Gerald's field next to his face-down monster. All three had an AA battery for a body, with a bulbous head and thin limbs that terminated in clunky hands and feet. (0/0 x3)

Valerie stared for a moment, and then giggled. The crowd joined her, and soon there was a round of riotous laughter. Gerald just took it stoically, watching as a wave of electricity passed between the Batterymen.

"I should note," he finally said loud enough to be heard over the laughing, "that if all Batterymen AA on my field are in the same mode, they gain 1000 points to that mode for each Batteryman AA." The laughter came to a halt. "So since I have three Batterymen AA in Attack Mode, all three have 3000 Attack Points."

The electricity hit its maximum level, and the Batterymen were surrounded by blue coronas of power. (3000/0 x3)

Valerie was now unable to laugh. "I… end my turn…"

"As you would have to," Gerald said, drawing. He then declared, as he flipped his face-down monster, "I switch my Dimension Jar into Attack Mode. Its flip effect allows us to both remove up to three monsters in our opponent's Graveyard from play. I'll let you pick first…"

As he did this, a bizarre-looking metal box rose into view. Several panels flipped open, revealing an unearthly light. (200/200)

After first kicking herself, Valerie sighed and said, "I only have three choices. Get rid of your Inpachi, Charcoal Inpachi, and Woodborg Inpachi…"

"As you've probably guessed, I'll remove both of your Hydrogeddons and your Oxygeddon," Gerald replied.

Once the decisions were made, the Dimension Jar flashed, and then began to rumble. The named monsters were drawn from their owner's graveyards and sucked into the machine, which closed up its panels and went silent.

"Next," Gerald said, "I'll summon Blazing Inpachi in Attack Mode."

The monster thus summoned looked like Gerald's previous Inpachi monsters, but it was burning with might… and fire. It took several poses before slamming its wooden "hands" together. (1850/0)

As it came out, however, the Water Dragon spat at it, causing the flames to go out. The still-smoldering creature promptly fell over, as did Chad in the crowd. (0/0)

"Have you forgotten that Water Dragon reduces all Fire attribute and Pyro-type monsters's Attack Points to zero?" Valerie asked, now more confident.

"Have _you_ forgotten that I have my Batterymen AA on the field with 3000 Attack Points each?" Gerald answered.

Valerie's confidence wilted away.

Smiling, Gerald noted, "Judging by your reaction, your facedown card is not something that can save you. Now… my first Batteryman AA, destroy Water Dragon with Thunder Jolt."

The Batteryman in question surged upwards, and then came down as a bolt of lighting through the Water Dragon. The electricity channeled through the dragon, conducted by its watery nature. The serpentine creature roared in pain, the electric waves shattering the bonds that held it together, before finally breaking apart and returning to its original, watery state. The result was a miniature tidal wave that flooded the space between the duelists for a moment.

Valerie's jaw dropped as her most powerful monster evaporated into nothing. She didn't even register that her Life Points were now at 7,100.

With the Water Dragon's death, the Blazing Inpachi shook off the water and slammed its "hands" into its chest. After a few moments of this, it reignited, its power restored. (1850/0)

"Next," Gerald ordered, "I'll have Blazing Inpachi deal with your face-down monster. Attack with Kindling Smash, Blazing Inpachi."

Marching over to the face-down monster, the burning wooden man raised its hands and began to rhythmically pound on it with its arms. After a few hits, the opposing monster was revealed to be a small dinosaur with a long, flat-ended nose. (1500/1200 - 1700/1400)

One more hit from the Blazing Inpachi shattered it into a thousand pieces, but as it died its head was left behind. Confused, the wooden man knelt to examine the head… and then to everyone's shock, the head bounced up and hit it square in the chest. The Blazing Inpachi flew through the air, landing back in its card. At that point, Gerald's Duel Disk beeped.

Once the shock had worn off, Valerie explained, "The monster was Hyper Hammerhead. When it battles an opposing monster and that monster survives, it returns the monster to its owner's hand."

Even as he added Blazing Inpachi to his hand, Gerald ordered, "My second Batteryman AA, attack Balloon Lizard… which she never bothered to switch into Defense Mode…"

"I never had to! Activate Desert Sunlight!" Valerie announced, her facedown card flipping up. "This switches all my monsters to face-up Defense Mode!"

The Balloon Lizard lowered, switching to Defense Mode. It was perfect timing, as the Batteryman shot up into the air and came down as a lightning bolt. And as it hit the Balloon Lizard, the reptile popped loudly, causing everyone's hair to blow back.

As the noise stopped, Valerie smirked and said, "When Balloon Lizard is destroyed, you take 400 points of damage for every Standby Phase that it was in play. That makes 1200 points, all aimed at -"

"You," Gerald interrupted. "Activate Barrel Behind the Door, which switches the damage to my opponent."

The antique golden gun rose into view, absorbing the shock from the Balloon Lizard's death. It then fired, the blast flooring Valerie and sending her Life Points down to 5,900.

_That… stings…_ Valerie thought as she stood up. _And the worst part is that the turn's not even over yet._ She braced herself.

After a moment's pause, Gerald nodded. "Dimension Jar, attack her directly. Once that's done, my third Batteryman AA, you will also attack directly."

Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, and then the young man sighed. "Chad," he said, "give the Dimension Jar a good kick in Valerie's direction, if you please?"

Stepping out of the crowd, Chad shrugged and kicked at the hologram. To his surprise, it flew across the field and hit Valerie in the gut, lowering her Life Points to 5,700.

"Thank you," Gerald said. "Now run for it."

The artist vacated the field just as the third Batteryman AA surged with power and shot into the sky. A moment later, a bolt of lightning struck Valerie, causing her to scream as her Life Points fell to 2,700.

"That's all I can do," Gerald said.

While drawing her next card, Valerie thought, _Time for damage control. If I can't get some very good defenses up, he wins on this next turn._ Once the card was in her hand, she played it immediately. "Pot of Greed!"

Even as she drew two more cards, Gerald began to nod off where he was sitting.

"Stay awake, you loser!" the girl yelled, shocking her opponent back to full wakefulness. "Now I summon Armored Lizard in Attack Mode!"

The resulting monster was not a very impressive sight – it looked like a blue, humanoid gecko in armor. (1500/1200)

"What is that going to do, bite my ankles off?" Gerald asked.

"Actually," Valerie replied, "it's the key to my recovery, because now I play Ultra Evolution Pill!" The magic card shimmered into play. "I simply need to give up one Reptile-type monster on my field, and I can Special Summon any Dinosaur-type monster in my hand!"

Taking the pill, the Armored Lizard swallowed it. It then began to convulse, its body swelling and making unnatural popping noises as it began to expand outward. Its skin turned a deep, unholy black…

Chad saw what was coming, and his eyes narrowed. _On its own, what Valerie's summoning isn't strong enough to deal with Gerald's forces. But she has so many cards in her hand that she must have a plan to go with it._

The lizard was done evolving, and now it stood over Gerald, growling and dripping saliva down from its maw. It was a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex, its jaws filled with an endless array of razor teeth. Drawing power from the Wasteland it stood on, it roared in satisfaction.

"Meet the Black Tyranno," Valerie said simply. (2800/2000)

Looking up, and up, and up, Gerald looked into the dinosaur's eyes. "So… how is this supposed to deal with my Batterymen?"

Holding up another magic card, Valerie slid it into her Duel Disk and announced, "I play Block Attack on one of your Batterymen AA, switching it to Defense Mode! They all have to be in the same position to gain points, and that means…"

Gerald's eyes went wide. "… that they're all powerless."

One of the Batterymen knelt in Defense Mode, and their electric field died. (0/0 x3)

"Now, Black Tyranno," Valerie ordered, "devour one of the Attack Mode Batterymen AA!"

Stomping up, the Black Tyranno sniffed at a Batteryman AA, and then gulped it down in one bite. Gerald's Life Points dove to 5,000.

"That's it for my turn," the girl announced.

Drawing, Gerald shot Valerie a glare, and then played one card from his hand. "I play Thunder Crash. This magic card allows me to wipe my field clean of monsters, and then hit you with 300 points of damage for each one. That's 900 points, in case your math skills are as bad as I think."

A bolt of lighting coursed through Gerald's monsters, shattering all three, and then shot across the field and into Valerie. She shook with the pain as she was electrocuted, her Life Points hitting 1,800.

"Next," he said, as he played another card, "I play Graceful Charity. So now I'll draw three…" He did so. "And discard two." After doing so, he announced, "I play Monster Reborn, to bring back a monster I just discarded – my second Woodborg Inpachi, in Defense Mode. Remember them?"

The Woodborg Inpachi rose into view, arms crossed. (500/2500)

"Finally," he said, sliding the last card from his hand into his Duel Disk, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Drawing a card, Valerie laughed in triumph. "Your defenses are worthless! Black Tyranno, eat up that Woodborg Inpachi!"

Charging forward, the dinosaur took a massive bite out of the Woodborg Inpachi, leaving it sparking before it exploded.

"Activate a second Spark Gathering," Gerald said calmly, activating his face-down card.

Blinking, Valerie then protested, "No way! Why would you play two of them? You can only have three Batteryman AA monsters in your deck, so another Spark Gathering is worthless!"

"Now, who said I only played Batteryman _AA_?" Gerald replied. "I bring out my three Thunder-type monsters for this play… my Batteryman _C_ group."

Three little balls of lightning landed on Gerald's field. They looked a little like the original Batterymen Gerald had played, but these were smaller, and didn't have the same electric field as before. (0/0 x3)

Valerie's jaw dropped. "They have no Attack Points? Sheesh! I end my turn!"

"And you didn't play any other monsters or facedown cards," Gerald noted as he drew. "Overconfidence will now destroy you. I play Pot of Greed…" He drew two cards, and then continued, "And Pot of Avarice. By shuffling five monsters into my deck, I can draw two more cards."

Moving to the edge of the crowd, Chad peeked at Gerald's cards as the clerk drew. What he saw astonished him. _He's won._

"Now," Gerald said, "I summon Inpachi in Attack Mode."

Another pile of logs fell on the field, and again gathered into the log-man. (1600/1900)

Valerie snorted, saying, "Waste of time…" But she was cut off as something strange happened.

The Batterymen C huddled together, charging up an energy field around themselves. They then launched the field into the sky. A moment later, two bolts of lighting struck Inpachi, which raised its fists in victory. (3100/1900)

"When all my Batterymen C are in the same mode," Gerald said, waving to his Inpachi, "all Machine-type monsters on the field with them gain 500 points in that mode for every Batteryman C. Inpachi's a very primitive machine, but a machine nonetheless. Next, I play Double Attack and discard a Labyrinth Wall…"

Valerie screamed. "NO! Now Inpachi can attack twice! I'm finished!"

The clerk smiled. "Perceptive. Inpachi, Wood Clobber the Black Tyranno."

The wooden man charged, leapt into the air, and bashed the Black Tyranno over the head. The dinosaur staggered, and then collapsed, shattering into pieces. Valerie wept as her Life Points sank to 1,500.

"And now, Inpachi," Gerald ordered, "attack Valerie for the win."

Marching past the defeated Black Tyranno, the wooden man stood in front of Valerie. She tried to grin sheepishly, only to get a wooden fist to the gut. Her Life Points fell to zero, and the duel ended.

There was a pause, and then the crowd went wild.

Shutting off his Duel Disk, Gerald yawned and then pointed to the door. "The exit is that way, Ms. Pemgast. Now fill your end of the bet and leave the premises."

Valerie's only response was to sulk as she shut off her Pocket Disk and walked out of the bookstore.

By the time she was out of the building, Gerald was asleep again.

**0000000**

Somewhere in the world, the man in black and the man in green had seen the entire battle on the array of mirrors.

The man in black, on the left, snapped his fingers, and the mirrors went blank. "Entertaining," he said. "I'm beginning to understand why you consider him a threat. To use a deck so original and come out ahead requires more than his share of skill."

"Exactly, Degas," the man in green, on the right, said. "It is for that reason that we will lure him in and dispose of him. I presume everything is in place?"

The man called Degas smiled, pushing his sunglasses back up. "Indeed, Alexander. Our flight is ready, and we've already begun the plan in the city. The Four Pillars are awaiting orders. Soon we will have all the strings in place for the big puppet show."

The man in green, Alexander, adjusted his coat. "And if I know how the Light works," he said, "they should get the ball rolling this night. It's such a glorious feat when you can use your enemy's moves to your advantage."

A tone of concern slid into Degas's next words as he asked, "Are you sure we can trust him to react as you say he will?"

Alexander merely smirked. "If he is the same man I think he is, that will not be a concern."

**0000000**

The rest of the day was uneventful, and so it went on to the evening. Setting his alarm, Gerald Laxina lay down on his bed, stared at the ceiling, and sighed.

Ever since the Monster Island tournament, for reasons he could not understand, he'd had trouble getting to sleep at night. The rest of the day, he could (and did) drop off to sleep at the blink of an eye (often literally); but once he tried to sleep for the night, it was time to start tossing and turning.

Staring up at the ceiling, he wondered why he, the laziest man alive (he didn't try to fool himself), was suffering insomnia. It didn't make any sense. Aside from dueling, it was the only thing he was good at.

As Gerald pondered these things, his temples began to throb.

Before he could begin to contemplate that, a splitting headache struck him. He grabbed his skull and rolled off the bed, gasping…

And then the vision started, and the world became a kaleidoscope.

**JURASSIC HEART**

Type: Normal Trap Card

Image: A large heart, presumably human.

Effect: Negate and destroy one Trap effect targeting a Dinosaur-type monster you control.

_Note: This card was used by Rex Raptor in the original series episode "On the Wrong Track, Pt. 2". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**SPARK GATHERING**

Type: Normal Trap Card

Image: A destroyed Pendulum Machine spitting out sparks, at the heart of which are Mega Thunderballs.

Effect: You may only activate this card when a Machine-type monster of Level Five or higher that you control is destroyed. Special Summon three Thunder-type monsters of Level Three or less from your Deck in face-up Attack Position.

_Coming next chapter: A vision from otherworldly powers has set out what Gerald has to do. Other events are going to cement that path for him. There's no duel next chapter, but there's a great deal of activity just as important. Get ready for Chapter 2, "World Gone Mad"…_


	3. World Gone Mad

_**I knew it was all too good to last. Yesterday, I was living a normal life. **_

Today, I seem to have stepped into a well-disguised layer of Hell.

**_It started with the vision I had when I was trying to sleep. I would call it an acid trip, but having never taken lysergic acid diethylamide in my life, it wouldn't be an accurate description._**

**_And now, I'm standing in the ruins of what was my life a few minutes ago, and all I can think is that I will make several people pay for all this._**

…_**well, that, and I'm still trying to work out what "Kanlon" means.**_

**Chapter Two: World Gone Mad**

The room Gerald Laxina now laid prone in was not his bedroom. For starters, his bedroom was about 1/20th of this size.

As his sight cleared, Gerald tried to stand up. This was a very bad move, as he proceeded to sink up to his ankles into the floor.

The entire room was a bright, psychedelic pink, like he was trapped inside a lava lamp. Above his head, a series of white lines began to form a diamond shape, about a thousand square feet in area.

"So… when do I get an explanation as to where I am and why I'm here?" Gerald asked. On not receiving a response, he asked, "Can you at least tone down the décor?"

The room turned to a dark gray, far easier on the eyes but dark enough for the white lines to be visible. In addition, the floor let go of his feet. As his bed was gone, he laid down on the floor to see the lines better.

The white lines drew four circles, one at each point where the sides of the diamond met. They then drew a circle in the center, before drawing four lines out from it to the other four circles.

Gerald yawned, his usual reaction to lying down – falling asleep – beginning to catch on. At that point, a voice in his head said, _"Listen closely,"_ and he cried out in shock.

"Mind warning me before you chime in?" he said under his breath.

"_Sorry,"_ the voice in his head said. Gerald realized it sounded exactly like his own thoughts. _"Either way, it's in your own best interest that you pay attention to what you're about to see."_

"All right… but why do you sound like my thoughts?"

"_Would you really have felt more comfortable if a stranger's voice popped into your head?"_

"Touché."

One by one, words began to appear in the circles above Gerald. The circle on the left was labeled "Light", the circle on the top labeled "Dreams", the circle on the bottom labeled "Shadow", and the circle on the right labeled "Darkness". The center circle stayed unlabeled.

Taking a chance, Gerald asked aloud, "What is the significance of that diagram?"

As he'd hoped, the voice spoke again. _"That is the Balance,"_ it answered him. _"It is a manifestation of the four morals that guide the universe. At this point, it is in equilibrium, and all is right with the world. Now watch…"_

As Gerald watched, the Darkness circle slid inward, pulling on the lines around it. The Light circle moved outward, disrupting the Dreams circle, and soon the lines themselves cracked and splintered.

"What just happened?" Gerald asked, but the voice refused to answer. Several minutes passed, and then he let out a huff and stood up again, looking closely at the circles.

To his amazement, the young man could see people in each circle. Some looked small and weak, while others were tall and powerful. There didn't seem to be anyone in the unlabeled center circle, but the others were full of people.

In the circle labeled Darkness, seven people stood far stronger than anything in the Light circle. This, Gerald reasoned, was the source of the imbalance, and was why the lines were broken and the circles out of alignment.

Suddenly, all seven of those people vanished at once; whether dead or merely weakened, Gerald couldn't tell. The circles briefly moved into their proper places once more…

…and then the Light circle moved inward towards the center, pushing the other circles aside. The young man could tell why without looking – the loss of the people from the circle of Darkness had unbalanced the sides in the opposite direction; Light was now more powerful.

And then two people appeared in the Darkness circle. Two people who seemed vaguely familiar, although Gerald couldn't place them. They smiled.

The center circle was finally labeled. The name was "Chaos".

All three of the other circles went flying as the Darkness circle slammed into the center, and the diagram shattered.

By that point, Gerald was holding onto his head, trying to figure out what had just happened. Finally, he just asked it: "What on Earth was that?"

"_You must learn what happens when the Balance is unequal,"_ the voice answered. _"We cannot answer the question for you, nor can we restore the Balance. Gerald… This is on your shoulders."_

There was a pause, and then Gerald sighed. "Can I at least start getting some sleep at night in exchange?"

"_Perhaps,"_ the voice said. _"Now our time to converse is up… but you should remember this word."_

"What word?"

"_Kanlon,"_ the voice said before it went silent.

There was a pause, and then Gerald said, "What the hell does that mean?"

**0000000**

The entire world flashed, and then Gerald was back on his hands and knees at his bedside. His head felt like several small explosives had all detonated at once within his skull.

Grabbing his bedpost, he pulled himself upright and took several deep breaths. "That was weird," he said to himself.

And then he fell onto his mattress and fell asleep.

**0000000**

"Even by my standards, that's a weird tale, Gerald," Chad said the next day at Fruits of Kozaky's Studies. He was still in the '50s tough outfit, and looked like someone had stretched a young Marlon Brando on the rack.

Gerald leaned on one arm, the other holding a glass of water. Even with the aspirin he'd taken the next morning (his sleep had helped him, but not by much), his head still throbbed. "By mine as well," he replied. "However, I saw _something_ during that headache. I know migraines can cause hallucinations, but I was never prone to them before…" He sipped the water and sighed. "I keep feeling like someone just drafted me into something beyond my experience."

Chad muttered, "Well, they did say it was on your shoulders…"

"The million-dollar question is _what_ they put on my shoulders and why." He paused, and then added, "And what 'Kanlon' is supposed to mean, if anything."

"I have to say I've never heard that word before, either." Chad shut his eyes in thought. "'Kanlon'… odd word. Maybe it's someone's name?"

"Probably a last name," Gerald answered.

At that point, a young woman stepped forward. "I think I might know what that word means," she said.

Both Gerald and Chad turned to look at the newcomer. She was several inches shorter than either of them, but her figure was the most athletic of the three. Her hair was long and red, and she had dark green eyes that looked like they could see just where to hit you. Currently, she was wearing a green sweater and light gray pants.

Amused, the clerk said, "Well, serendipity is real. But first, what's your name?"

"Laura Vesnic," she answered. "Now, it's probably not what you're looking for, but…"

**0000000 **

During the conversation, three men were gathered in a nearby alleyway, huddled around a handheld radio.

One of the men was a living mountain of a person, easily eight feet tall and covered in muscles. He wore an iron mask with several holes in it, several leather straps around his waist, and a pair of leather pants. At his side was a massive gun, .50 caliber at the least.

To the muscled man's right, incongruously, there was an older man in a black suit, a white collar around his neck and a cross dangling from a chain under that. His hair was only beginning to turn gray, but his face looked much older than the rest of him. He wore bifocals, and his expression suggested he wasn't happy with his company.

Holding the radio and standing between the two, the third member of the group tugged his sleeves back into place. His outfit was… confusing, to say the very least. Every square inch of his body was covered with shiny silver Lycra, making it hard to look at him for long. The only part of him visible was his eyes – both of which were a bright red.

The radio ordered, "Ogre, begin Part A now. Father Young, move into position for Part B; Hanzaki, wait for our command before initiating Part C. Remember, we need him alive for now – no challenges or killing allowed."

Ogre, the man wearing the iron mask, sighed and picked up his gun. Readjusting his collar, Father Young nodded, and Hanzaki snickered before asking, "And what about you, Degas?"

"Alexander and I are en route to the area as we speak," the voice answered. "Just carry out the parts as assigned. And Hanzaki?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Once the plan is complete, contact Klaus and let him know the next step."

The radio shut off. Ogre set off at a run, while the priest followed him at a walk. Hanzaki, meanwhile, simply flexed his hands.

**0000000**

Before Laura could finish her sentence, the door to Fruits of Kozaky's Studies went flying into the building, knocking a customer to the floor. A gigantic man stormed in, carrying the largest gun anyone had ever seen, and he fired several rounds into the ceiling as he walked through the doorway.

As per the usual reaction to large men with even larger guns, everyone in the book store fled. There were three exceptions: Gerald didn't leave his seat, Chad moved to one side, and Laura just stared the man down.

Gerald was fairly unimpressed, although Chad had slid behind a shelf almost immediately. "I take it you're not here for books on gardening," he said.

The giant stopped and gave it a moment's thought. "Maybe later," he said, before storming up to Laura.

Faster than Gerald's eyes could follow, the girl spun on one heel and delivered a snap kick to the muscleman's solar plexus. In response, he grabbed her foot, swung the butt of the gun around, and drove it up into her abdomen. She was unconscious before the gun even broke contact.

With one swing of his arm, the giant set Laura over his shoulder and ran out of the building, leaving only several bullet holes in the ceiling and a shattered door in his wake.

Immediately afterwards, Gerald slid off of his chair, muttering, "Oh, why must I run?"

Chad emerged from behind the shelves, saying, "You're going to chase after him, aren't you?"

"If I ever want a clue as to what 'Kanlon' means, then yes, I have to," Gerald answered, stretching briefly. "Of course, I'm not happy about this in the slightest…"

Chad smirked, a look that Gerald returned with a glare, and the two young men ran out the door – although for Gerald, it was more of a slouch.

**0000000**

To Gerald's surprise, the street was empty when he and Chad stepped onto it. The only person within several yards was an older man in a priest's outfit.

"Excuse me, father," Chad asked, "but have you seen a very large man in a metal mask carrying a red-haired girl? That might sound strange, but…"

At first, the priest didn't seem to notice the other two. His head was down, and one hand was over his face.

Gerald tried next: "Father, pardon me, but has anyone resembling the Humungous passed by recently?"

It took a minute for the priest to respond. Finally, he said, "God has judged you, my children."

This was not a response that either Gerald or Chad had expected. They looked at each other, and then at the priest, Chad asking, "What was that, father?"

"He has judged you… and you are not worthy." The priest looked at both of them, the air around him turning black. "Feel His wrath!"

The priest waved his hand, and the ground shattered at Gerald and Chad's feet. A fissure opened up, and spread at incredible speed, forcing both young men to run backwards. Eventually, Chad had to yank on the back of Gerald's shirt to get him away from the crack in the earth.

"My old gym coach was right…" Gerald gasped. "I really _couldn't_ run if my life depended on it…"

As they watched, the fissure continued to spread out, eventually making its way under Fruits of Kozaky's Studies. In time, gravity took its toll, and the entire building toppled from its foundations, falling headlong into the crevice and disappearing from sight.

Gerald's jaw dropped. All he could think was that this definitely had to qualify as an Act of God on the insurance forms. That, and the simple fact of his unemployment, now consumed his thoughts.

On the other side of the priest-made canyon, the gigantic man in the metal mask stepped out of hiding, Laura still slung over his shoulder. Looking over the priest's work, he grunted and said, "Damn it, Father Young, overkill's my job!"

"We needed them _alive_, Ogre," the thus-identified Father Young replied. "I deliberately set the fissure so that they could outrun it. Destroying the bookstore was an unfortunate side effect."

"Whatever. How long do we have to wait?"

The priest pulled his sleeve up and checked a silver watch on his wrist. "Not long now."

And then a helicopter roared down from above. It had a slightly elongated look to it, and its colors were a mix of green and white. Two men could be seen within it – one at the controls, one in the back.

Examining it, Ogre whistled through his mask. "A Westland Scout," he said. "I didn't know there were any of those left…"

The door slid open, and a man in black clothing kicked an emergency ladder out of the side, watching it fall into reach. "Hurry up, both of you!" he called over the noise of the rotor. "We have a refueling appointment to keep!"

Grabbing the ladder, Ogre hauled himself up it with one hand, the other arm holding the gun in its hand and Laura over his shoulder. Father Young followed him, glaring again at Gerald and Chad as he rose.

The man in black clothing suddenly turned, and apparently held a brief discussion with the pilot. A moment later, the pilot slid from his seat (the man in black took over the controls), waited for Ogre and Father Young to get all the way in… and then leaned out the door.

Unlike his apparent partner, this man wore green clothing. He had a mocking smile on his face, and he looked directly at Gerald.

Even as Chad watched, Gerald fell backwards, the blood drained from his hands and face as he could do nothing but stare. It was the largest reaction Chad had ever seen out of his usually lazy comrade.

The man in green laughed, leaned back into the helicopter, and slammed the door shut before it flew off into the distance.

Gerald laid on the ground for several minutes after the helicopter was out of sight, taking deep breaths and recovering the color in his face and hands. His eyes shut, and for a moment Chad thought he'd fallen asleep… but soon he was back on his feet, dusting off.

"So… who was that?" Chad asked.

With an unusual hint of bitterness in his voice, Gerald muttered, "I don't want to discuss it." He then looked to where the helicopter had hovered, eyes narrowed.

There was an awkward silence, and then the lazy man sighed, glancing to the massive hole in the ground where Fruits of Kozaky's Studies had fallen into the earth. "Old Hendricks is going to kill me," he said, back to his usual bored drawl.

"That assumes those guys don't come back and do it first," Chad replied. "What did they want Laura for, anyway?"

Before Gerald could answer, the air blurred on the other side of the man-made fissure, and a very… interesting-looking man stepped out. His body was entirely covered in silver Lycra, including much of his face. Only his nostrils and his red eyes were exposed to the air, and he had a circle interlaced with a bizarre pattern of lines drawn on his chest in what Gerald _hoped_ was red paint.

The man looked around at the carnage, laughed, and said, "Cripes, the bosses really know how to start a party, don't they?"

"And you are?" Gerald asked.

Bowing, the man answered, "You may call me Hanzaki. I'm here on the behalf of my employers – the guys who were piloting that helicopter, Degas and Alexander."

On hearing the second name, Gerald recoiled slightly, but he silenced Chad with a glare before the other man could say anything.

"I see you're familiar with them," Hanzaki continued, looking to Gerald. "Now, my employers would like to assure you that, for the time being, Miss Vesnic is perfectly fine. For the time being…"

Gerald replied, "So, why did they take her in the first place?"

Hanzaki shrugged. "They didn't tell me, so your guess is as good as mine. If you want to find out, you'll have to play their game… a little game of hide-and-go-seek. The only problem is that their playground is the city of St. Paul, Minnesota."

At that, Gerald and Chad both looked to each other in abject confusion. After a moment, Chad looked back to Hanzaki and said, "How do you expect us to _get_ to St. Paul? You took out his job, and I make squid-all at the hardware store!"

In response, Hanzaki merely laughed, answering once he was under control again, "The employers have that all taken care of. You see, the real game is in St. Paul, but the qualifying rounds all take place here." He spread out his hands. "Come to this spot at dawn tomorrow and the game will begin. Win that round, and you'll find a way to get to the city in question. Lose… well, I don't suggest losing."

Having said his piece, Hanzaki made a cryptic gesture with his hand. The air blurred again, and he was gone.

"Do you think he was telling the truth?" Chad asked.

Gerald yawned, and then said, "If he wasn't, we're screwed. We'll find out at dawn tomorrow. See you here." He then headed off toward his apartment.

Chad blinked twice. "Well, that was quick." He then headed towards his own home.

**0000000**

On his bed, Gerald looked over three piles of cards.

The pile on his left consisted of his original, Final Countdown deck, the one he'd nicknamed "Tick Tock".

The pile on his right was the challenge deck, the deck of Inpachi and Batterymen.

And in the center were the rest of his cards – a massive collection, kept in several plastic, tray-lined boxes.

_The Final Countdown deck is really showing its age,_ Gerald thought, sliding several of the important cards (including Spell Sanctuary) out of it. _Its days have passed._

He then slid several cards out of the challenge deck, thinking, _And I can't count on getting Woodborg Inpachi and Spark Gathering every time, so I can't trust this deck, either._

A memory came to him – a memory of what the deck had comprised when it first landed at his feet, five years before. He took one card out of his collection at random.

It was the Servant of Catabolism.

_The deck was poor when I first found it,_ he thought. _I can make it what it wanted to be… but better. Far better._

Half an hour later, the deck was finalized, and Gerald was fast asleep. The clock read 12:46 P.M.

**0000000**

In the center of Chad's apartment, the artist sat on his cot, surrounded by his works in progress.

_Everyone expects an artist, especially a painter, to use a Toon deck,_ Chad thought, turning over each card in his deck in sequence. _But I have other interests as well. Not only does this deck reflect my heart, but it'll take whoever I face by surprise. _

He set his deck down and turned to his latest project – a self-portrait of himself in his '50s-era gear, surrounded by fire. He'd already concocted a backstory for the portrait involving a burning building; in truth, he'd gotten the idea after accidentally singeing his sleeve on a candle.

**0000000**

On top of a building, near where Fruits of Kozaky's Studies had once stood, a very elegant man in a white suit placed one hand on his chin and evaluated the situation. He then began to speak, his words making their way across the dimensional divide to… _somewhere_.

"This is more serious zan we thought," he said quietly, a French accent weaving through his words. "Ze Darkness has chosen very powerful agents for its latest attempt. As for ze Light… well, once again I have to question what zey were thinking when zey chose Monsieur Laxina…"

One of the man's feet tapped, and he shut his eyes. "But ze Light had its reasons, of zat I am sure. What zose reasons _are_…? Zat I cannot tell. I will continue to monitor ze crisis until further notice. Allumette out."

In a burst of fire, scorching the ground beneath him, the man vanished.

**0000000**

The rest of the day passed fairly quietly after its tense, violent start. Chad and Gerald (after the latter woke up again) spent the rest of the day tidying up loose ends and readying for a possible trip out of state. This was far easier for Gerald than Chad; neither had family in the area, but Chad still had a job.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Augusta, a man shuffled the cards of a tarot deck. One of the man's eyes was covered with a silver patch, but the other intently watched the shuffle. His body was wrapped in violet silks, and he seemed fairly young despite his experienced hands.

Setting the deck down, he drew the top card and smiled. "The Hermit reversed," he said. "He who seeks answers but cannot be taught, he who guides but does not teach… I will have a visitor, it seems."

True to the man's statement, the air in his room blurred, and Hanzaki emerged in front of him. "Ah, still reading the cards, I see," he said.

"They tell me things I need very badly to know," the one-eyed man said. "They predicted your arrival, for one. What do you wish of me, Hanzaki?"

"The masters have someone they'd like you to deal with. Two someones, in fact. Do us a favor and deal with these interlopers, will you?"

Nodding, the man shifted a pile of clothes at his side until he found what he was looking for. He picked up a Duel Disk and looked it over with his good eye. "Shall I make it a full Duel of Darkness, or is this merely a social battle?"

"The latter would be preferred," Hanzaki answered. "We don't want to kill the foolish lads, merely to test them. But if you can find a way to deal with them _without_ destroying them…"

"I understand." The one-eyed man returned the Hermit card to his deck and resumed shuffling. "What are their names?"

"Our major concern is named Gerald Laxina; his friend is Chad Montmelier."

"When and where?"

As he made the cryptic gesture with one hand, Hanzaki said, "Dawn tomorrow, at the bookstore we discussed previously. Until then, Klaus…" And with that, he vanished as the air blurred.

Under his breath, Klaus muttered, "Gerald Laxina," drawing the next card from his deck. He set it down and smirked. "The Hanged Man… one who is in a transitory state between what he was and what he will become. This could be interesting."

With a whisper of "Chad Montmelier", Klaus pulled another card and set it down. His good eye narrowed. "The Nine of Swords… he has some suffering in his future, I see. But this is the card of the martyr; he can and will rise above it."

Setting the tarot cards aside, he took up a different deck and sorted through it. "Sorry, children," he said to himself. "But no matter what your fate, it shall turn unpleasant at dawn tomorrow." He slid this deck into his Duel Disk.

**0000000**

At 5:23 A.M. the next morning, two figures strolled through the streets in the dim light of false dawn.

In the lead of the two walked Chad Montmelier, Duel Disk strapped to one arm. He was now dressed as the spitting image of James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause", but taller and without the self-destructive tendencies.

Behind him, staggering and looking like Hell itself, Gerald Laxina nursed a Styrofoam cup of coffee. He was in the same clothes as he'd worn the day before, and he was carrying his Duel Disk under one arm. "In the name of all that's holy," he gasped between sips of his coffee, "who ever decided on dawn as the time? And when can I kill them?"

Putting a hand to his forehead, Chad muttered, "Gerald, you're going to make us look bad…"

"I can't help it," Gerald replied as he finished his coffee. "I was not built to wake up this early in the morning. The insomnia doesn't help, either…"

"Insomnia shouldn't affect someone who can go into REM sleep during a midday nap."

Sighing, Gerald said, "The things I do to find out what 'Kanlon' means…"

Finally, the two arrived at the fissure. Gerald slumped to the ground, and the two waited for their challenge to arrive…

_Coming next chapter: The first true battle takes place. Klaus, master of the tarot cards, challenges Chad to a game with a different set of cards. What sort of deck does Chad use, and can it stand against the tricks of a master fortuneteller? Find out in Chapter Three, "Dark Fortunes"… _


	4. Dark Fortunes

_**My name is Chad Montmelier. I'm 22 years old, an artist by trade and hardware store clerk by necessity, I've played Duel Monsters for some six years so far… and for the first time in my life, I'm regretting my choice of friends.**_

**_Don't get me wrong, I still think Gerald's a good guy, but ever since he had that vision the other night, it seems like the entire universe is out to get him. First that girl gets kidnapped, then someone destroys the bookstore, and now it's just after dawn and I'm in a very strange game of Duel Monsters._**

_**You know, I didn't believe in Shadow Games, but the guy I'm facing right now is enough to make the legendarily skeptical Seto Kaiba believe in them. And his deck is just the sort I never wanted to see. **_

_**Gerald, you owe me. You so owe me.**_

_**But my only concern at the moment is surviving long enough for you to pay me back…**_

Chapter Three: Dark Fortunes 

Dawn came swiftly, the first beams of sunlight playing their way across Gerald Laxina's face. He blinked twice and then sat up, rubbing his head. "Sleeping on paved roads is not a good way to rest," he said, yawning as punctuation.

He rose to a sitting position, looking around himself. After a moment, he saw Chad, staring down into the fissure that Father Young had created the previous day. Stretching out (which took about three minutes), the lazy young man rose to his feet, walking up to his friend.

"I wonder if any books survived the fall," he asked rhetorically.

"Given that they fell some sixty feet into a jagged crack in the ground created by unnatural powers… no, I don't think they did," Chad replied.

Gerald shrugged, holding one hand to the sunlight. "It looks like it'll be a clear day today, if nothing else…"

And then a set of dark clouds rolled across the sky, obscuring the rising sun. Gerald and Chad looked at each other, and then both sighed.

"If you've ever seen a bad omen…" Chad began.

"…this would have to be it," Gerald finished.

The sound of footsteps reverberated up the street, and both young men turned to look.

Coming up from the side of the street on the opposite side of the fissure was a very disturbing-looking gentleman. He wore a purple silk shirt, purple silk pants, and an oversized black jacket; strapped over it was a Duel Disk – from the looks of things, a Battle City Model. His hair was long, black, and tied into a ponytail, wrapped around his neck. One eye was covered in a silver eyepatch, and the other was a deep blue. From his faces and hands, the man seemed to be about thirty.

The two merely stared, and then Chad said, "Let me duel him, Gerald."

"Are you sure?" the younger man said, his expression one of disapproval. "I have more experience…"

"Trust me, I can't fail." Chad then stepped up to the fissure's edge and said, "Did Degas and Alexander send you?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gerald flinch.

The stranger bowed and replied, "That they did. You may call me Klaus Engel… or just Klaus, if you wish. I am to be your opponent this morning. You would be Chad Montmelier, would you not?"

"How did you know that?"

"It is written all over you in invisible letters," Klaus answered. "You look the spitting image of a Nine of Swords…" He then snickered. "Your tragedy is soon to be upon you, and you cannot evade it. How sad."

Chad's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, 'my tragedy'?"

Suddenly, Klaus slapped his forehead. "Blast! Said too much. I must not give away what the cards have told me…" He then shrugged. "Forget I said anything."

Despite his foreboding, Chad held up his Duel Disk. "I presume you were sent to duel one of us. I'll take the challenge."

After a moment, Klaus nodded, turning his Duel Disk on and taking his position. "I expected as such," he said. "I would prefer to duel the Nine of Swords rather than the Hanged Man, anyway."

Gerald moved to one side and sat down, yawning. _I suppose I'm just the audience this time,_ he thought.

The duelists stared at each other, and then both said, calmly, "Let's duel."

**0000000**

Somewhere in the city of St. Paul, the man in black clothing known as Degas took his seat to the left of the mirror array. "Is everything ready?" he asked the man in green, Alexander.

Taking his seat on the right, Alexander nodded. "Ogre has taken Miss Vesnic to the holding area, Father Young is awaiting orders, and the primary plan is already underway. We have time to enjoy the entertainment."

So saying it, he snapped his fingers, turning on the array of mirrors. An image of Chad and Klaus beginning their duel came into view.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Alexander asked. "I'm iffy about anyone whose loyalty we haven't… assured."

"He can be trusted," Degas answered. "The pure strain of Darkness in his soul is rare, but used properly… it is a _very_ effective weapon."

**0000000**

Taking a coin from his pocket, Klaus showed both sides to Chad. "Call it," he said, throwing it in the air.

"Heads!" Chad called.

The coin landed in Klaus's outstretched hand, and he showed it to Chad. "Tails. I will begin."

Their Life Point counters moved to 8,000.

Drawing his opening hand, Klaus took three cards from his hand. "I set two cards face-down and set one monster in Defense Mode. Your turn."

Chad drew his own opening hand, smiled, and declared, "I summon Chiron the Mage in Attack Mode!"

A centaur rode into view, bearing a staff and with the human portion of his body armored. (1,800/1,000)

Glancing at his hand, Chad thought, _I could invoke Chiron's effect, but if those cards are bluffs it would be a waste of good Magic Cards._ Aloud, he said, "Chiron, attack his face-down monster!"

Drawing power into his staff, Chiron was just about to launch his magical attack when Klaus hit a button on his Duel Disk. Instantly, a circle of blazing energy surrounded the centaur, freezing him in place.

"You seem to have hit my Spellbinding Circle," Klaus said calmly.

_Maybe they **weren't** bluffs,_ Chad thought in embarrassment. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."

With a laugh, Klaus took a deck of tarot cards from the pocket of his jacket. "Now that the duel is fully underway, I invoke the Tarot Circle Rejecting!" he declared. He threw the deck in the air.

The cards divided into two sets, one set forming a circle around him and the other forming a circle around Chad. Both circles glowed.

"What's going on?" Chad asked.

Klaus smiled. "Degas taught me this little trick when they hired me. Simply put, those cards are a conduit to a world of darkness outside this one. Now, should one of us lose, the darkness will consume them from within, destroying every piece of them that could be considered 'human' and replacing them with a nightmarish parody." He shrugged, adding, "In my case, I doubt anyone could tell the difference."

As a test, Chad tried to step out of the circle, and was promptly thrown to the ground.

"That would be why it's called the Tarot Circle Rejecting," Klaus said, smirking. "You can't step in or out of the circle while it's active, and it will be active until this duel is over."

Chad sighed. _Great. The Tarot Cards of Oreichalcos._

**0000000**

Degas's eyebrows furrowed. "I can't help but think Klaus is being foolish," he said. "He was ordered not to destroy those two…"

Alexander, by contrast, had merely leaned back in his chair. "Relax, my friend. If Klaus wins, the game isn't over – Chad simply becomes one of our tools. If Klaus loses, at least we can still use him…"

"You have a point, Alexander," the man in black replied. "Still, if Klaus makes it out of this duel alive, he and I will have a little talk about when and how to use the big guns…"

**0000000 **

Drawing a card from his Duel Monsters deck, Klaus tossed a card onto his Monster Zones. "I summon Malice Doll of Demise, in Attack Mode!"

What looked like a wooden puppet with a giant axe fell from the sky, stopping just before it would fall into the fissure. It stood up, its joints shaky, and raised its axe. (1600/1700)

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Weird," he said under his breath. "It can't kill Chiron…"

"Next," Klaus said, "I play the Continuous Magic Card known as Ectoplasmer."

Gerald sat up straighter. _I know this combination. Oh, Chad, you're in trouble now…_

"I now move to my End Phase," Klaus said. "During our End Phases, we may sacrifice a monster on our fields to Ectoplasmer and deal the other player half of its Attack Points in Life Point damage. So farewell, my Malice Doll of Demise!"

The Doll suddenly stiffened up as Ectoplasmer drew out its soul, and then shattered. The drawn-out energy fired across the field and slammed hard into Chad, sending his Life Points to 7,200.

Klaus concluded with, "Since that was my End Phase, it's your turn."

The other duelist shuddered slightly, holding onto his stomach. _That was like having my internal organs put through an ice bath!_ he thought.

Exhaling, Chad drew his next card, tucking it into his hand. "Since the Spellbinding Circle doesn't stop me from using monster effects, I discard a Magic Card to use Chiron the Mage's effect – and I'll destroy that Spellbinding Circle with it!"

Fighting the Circle's influence, Chiron raised his staff and brought it down. The Spellbinding Circle exploded in a flash of light, freeing him.

"Now," Chad declared, "I summon Berserk Gorilla in Attack Mode!"

With a cry of rage, a massive gorilla knocked Chiron aside and stormed around Chad's field, searching for a victim. (2000/1000)

"Trying to hold him back is futile," Chad said, "so I won't bother trying. Berserk Gorilla, attack Klaus's face-down monster!"

The gorilla pounded its chest and stormed across the field, bringing its fist down on Klaus's face-down monster… and the fist was held back by a tiny skeleton in purple robes. (300/200)

Chuckling for a moment, Klaus regained his self-control and explained, "That would be Spirit Reaper, which is indestructible in battle. The perfect guard for now, wouldn't you say?"

Chad sighed and kicked a stone into the fissure between them. "I suppose…" He took a card from his hand and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I set one card face-down, and now I'll use your Ectoplasmer with my Berserk Gorilla. Take it out on him, Mighty Joe Young!"

The Berserk Gorilla took one last breath, and then let out a massive scream of frustration. Its spirit left its body, and as the beast shattered, the spirit took the form of a giant gorilla. This unleashed rage charged forward, knocking Klaus to the ground and sending his Life Points down to 7,000.

Even as he got to his feet, Klaus laughed. "Very amusing," he said. "But now I'd like to show you a little trick the Malice Doll of Demise can do. Doll, return from your grave!"

From the abyss between the duelists, the various parts of the Malice Doll of Demise flew into sight, assembling once more into the axe-wielding puppet.

"Okay… how does that work?" Chad asked.

"Simply put, the Malice Doll of Demise automatically resurrects itself the turn after it's destroyed by a Continuous Magic Card," Klaus said. "This includes Ectoplasmer. Now…" He took a card from his hand and set it in the Duel Disk. "I set a card facedown, and enter my End Phase. I sacrifice the Malice Doll of Demise again to Ectoplasmer!"

Once more, the spirit was sucked out of the doll, which collapsed and shattered into pieces anew. The spirit swirled about, and then flowed through Chad's body, sending his Life Points to 6,400.

Once his shuddering was over, Chad drew his next card.

"In response to your draw," Klaus announced, "I activate my face-down card, Ominous Fortunetelling!" The card lifted to reveal an evil-looking crystal ball, a skull made of smoke visible within it.

Chad waited… but nothing seemed to happen. "Does that card have an effect?" he finally asked.

"Not until my next Standby Phase, so continue your turn," Klaus answered.

Exhaling, Chad looked at his hand. There wasn't much there. "I set a monster in Defense Mode, and go to my End Phase. Now I sacrifice Chiron the Mage to Ectoplasmer! Get him, Chiron!"

Setting his staff in the ground beside him, Chiron concentrated. His spirit flowed out of him and took physical form as a lance of pure energy. Even as Chiron's body collapsed, his spirit hurled itself into Klaus, dropping his Life Points to 6,100.

"You're taking more damage from Ectoplasmer than I am," Chad noted.

Klaus shrugged. "I presume it's my turn," he said, drawing a card. "Now Ominous Fortunetelling activates!"

The smoke inside the crystal ball began to stir worryingly.

Klaus explained: "During my Standby Phase, I choose one card in your hand and guess whether it's a Monster, Magic, or Trap Card. If I'm correct, then you take 700 points of damage to your Life Points. Let me guess…" He thought for a second, and then said, "You'd play any Magic Cards and set any Trap Cards you had, so I'll say the card on my right is a Monster!"

Chad glanced at his hand and groaned; the card in question was Mad Dog of Darkness. "You're correct," he said.

The smoke within the crystal ball rotated rapidly, and then suddenly seemed to escape. It became a pair of jaws, which "snapped" at Chad; although it couldn't hurt him, being hologrammatic smoke, he came out of the jaws coughing. His Life Points were now at 5,700.

"You don't want to see the Magic and Trap versions of that effect," Klaus said, hiding a laugh behind his hand. "And since my Standby Phase is still in progress…"

For a second time, the pieces of the Malice Doll of Demise pulled themselves from the fissure and reassembled themselves.

"Oh, dear," Gerald said from the sidelines.

"Exactly," Klaus answered. "As long as I have the Malice Doll of Demise and Ectoplasmer, I'm guaranteed 800 points of damage a turn – 1,500 if I succeed at Ominous Fortunetelling, and I have a card in my deck that can guarantee that. While Ectoplasmer may cause me some pain at first, I have unlimited ammo. How many monsters can _you_ afford to destroy for it, Mr. Montmelier?"

_He's right, _Chad thought in annoyance. _In the end, this standoff only benefits him. Once I stop drawing monsters, my offense will shut down completely!_

"Now…" Klaus continued. He glanced to his hand and cursed. "Pathetic," he said. "I need better cards. So I'll activate Pot of Greed, and then chain my facedown card, Serial Spell!"

The giant, unholy-looking pot came into view, and then a whirling vortex of magic appeared next to it.

"By discarding all the cards in my hand – in other words, this one," the one-eyed man explained, "Serial Spell becomes an exact copy of the card I chained it to. And since chains go in reverse order of cards played, I didn't lose anything from the Pot of Greed. So, put simply, I draw four cards!"

The vortex became another Pot of Greed, and both pots chuckled simultaneously. Behind them, Klaus drew four cards and smiled. "Perfect. I set one card facedown, put one monster in Defense Mode, and enter my End Phase. Malice Doll of Demise, I give you to Ectoplasmer once again!"

Even though Chad was used to this by now, it still didn't feel right when the doll's spirit, torn from its body, passed through him. His Life Points sank to 4,900.

Shuddering slightly, Chad drew his next card…

"I activate my Trap as you draw," Klaus declared. "Respect Play! Now during our turns, we must show our opponent our hands!"

Even as Chad turned his hand around, revealing his Mad Dog of Darkness, De-Fusion, and newly-drawn Graceful Charity, he muttered, "He's doing more during my turns than _I_ am…"

On the side, Gerald shook his head. _That combination… it feels too much like my deck. I'm getting very bad vibes from all this._

"Since I don't have a choice," Chad announced, "I play Graceful Charity."

The angel descended over his head as he played the card, and then he drew his three cards, sliding De-Fusion and Gigantes into his Graveyard.

Looking at his newly drawn cards, Chad grinned. "I know Spirit Reaper's weakness," he said. "So I'll target him with Snatch Steal – since he's targeted, he dies!"

The Snatch Steal effect tried to envelope Spirit Reaper, but the spirit let out a scream and exploded instead.

"Next," Chad said, "I switch Des Kangaroo into Attack Mode!"

His facedown monster turned into a green-skinned kangaroo with boxing gloves and a purple vest. It took a couple of warm-up jabs and then spat. (1,500/1,700)

"Finally," he finished, "I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode!"

The eyeless, rabid dog stalked into view, growling low as it clawed at the ground. (1,900/1,400)

Both Gerald and the one-eyed man dueling Chad were fairly impressed by the combination. Neither of them said it, though – Gerald didn't feel like it and Klaus refused to admit it.

"Mad Dog of Darkness," Chad ordered, after catching his breath, "attack Klaus's face-down monster!"

The dog howled, and then hurled itself forward, savaging the face-down monster. It was revealed to be a large black cat seconds before its destruction. (500/300)

Klaus chuckled, searching his deck. "How appropriate that a dog destroyed a cat," he said. "Unfortunately, the cat it destroyed was A Cat of Ill Omen, so now I search my deck for a Trap Card and place it on top. Rules say that I have to show you the card…"

He held up the Trap Card as he found it.

Chad gasped and Gerald sighed. The Trap Card in question showed a ghost holding the letter "F".

_That's the Destiny Board! So THAT'S the point of his deck!_ Chad thought.

_How does he plan on playing that when most of his Magic and Trap zones are full?_ Gerald thought.

Even as they thought it, Klaus set the card on top of his deck.

Once his opponent was done, Chad glanced to his face-down card. _If I activated this,_ he thought, _I could smash his Life Points to almost nothing. But then I'd have nothing to bluff with, and one good defender on the part of Cyclops over there would put us back in the same boat as before. I should hold onto this for now._

"Des Kangaroo," Chad said out loud, "attack his Life Points directly with Dreamtime Combination!"

With one good hop, the boxing kangaroo was right in front of Klaus. It tapped its fists together and proceeded to punch him multiple times in the solar plexus. Even as Klaus fell to his knees and his Life Points went down to 4,600, the Des Kangaroo returned to Chad's field.

"Finally," Chad said, "in my End Phase, I sacrifice Des Kangaroo to Ectoplasmer!"

The kangaroo spread its arms and shut its eyes. Its spirit floated out of it, wound up for the punch, and delivered a sharp uppercut to Klaus. He stumbled back, his Life Points sinking to 3,850.

But even as Klaus recovered, he was laughing. "It's my move," he said, drawing a card and turning his hand around due to Respect Play. "Now, in my Standby Phase, Ominous Fortunetelling activates."

Once more, the crystal ball's smoke began to whirl.

"You have one card in your hand," Klaus noted, "and I saw what it was. So… the card in your hand is a Magic Card, Polymerization to be exact!"

_Damn,_ Chad thought. "That's correct."

The smoke billowed out, and took the form of a massive lightning bolt. It struck Chad, leaving him coughing furiously and sending his Life Points to 4,200.

"And I think you know what else happens during my Standby Phase," the one-eyed man continued.

Yet again, the pieces of the Malice Doll of Demise rose from the abyss and reassembled themselves.

_That doll's starting to irk me,_ Chad thought. He noted the cards in Klaus's hand – he recognized Destiny Board and what appeared to be Earthbound Spirit, but the last card in the group was something he'd never seen before.

"I set one monster in Defense Mode," Klaus said, "and then… well, you _know_ what's coming next…"

For what seemed to Chad like the thousandth time, the Malice Doll of Demise's soul was sucked from it and went flying into him. His Life Points dropped to 3,400.

Gerald sighed, watching from his seated position. _Klaus hasn't attacked once, and he still has Chad on the ropes…_

Breathing heavily, Chad shut his eyes, trying to regain his focus. And then he heard something terrifying.

Ten thousand voices were whispering in his mind, and none of them sounded particularly happy to be in his head.

_What did that one-eyed maniac say about this Tarot Circle Rejected of his?_ he thought. _If I lose, everything that makes me what I am will be consumed by darkness… those whispers must be the darkness, then. I'd better draw a good card, or something tells me those voices will have my self for lunch…_

He drew, and then smiled. It was probably the best card he could get.

"I activate Card of Sanctity!" he called out, setting the card on his disk. "Now we both draw to six cards!"

Both Chad and Klaus drew – Chad drew five cards, Klaus four.

As they drew, Klaus paid attention to Chad's cards. One in particular made him gasp.

_Finally! _Chad thought.

"Next," Chad announced, "I activate Heavy Storm!"

"_NO!" _Klaus cried.

The hurricane let loose, tearing through every Magic and Trap card on the field. Chad's facedown card, revealed as a Wild Nature's Release, went flying and shattered; however, the true devastation took place on Klaus's field, as Ectoplasmer, Respect Play, and Ominous Fortunetelling all broke into thousands of pieces and vanished into the wind.

"Unless I'm mistaken," Chad said, turning his cards with their backs to Klaus once Respect Play shattered, "that's your entire strategy down the pipes. Now I'll summon Pitch-Black Warwolf, set a card facedown, and end my turn." _I'd attack,_ he mentally added, _but I don't have anything yet to defeat an Earthbound Spirit._

As he said it, a facedown card appeared in front of him, and the sword-wielding lycanthrope emerged on his field, snarling. (1,600/600)

Even as he drew, though, Klaus chuckled. The chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh, and he finally had to take a moment to regain his breath.

"Have you forgotten already," the one-eyed man said, "that what you've seen was not my primary strategy?"

Both Gerald and Chad were confused for a second, and then it hit both of them what Klaus meant by that… they'd seen what his primary strategy was.

"First," Klaus said as he drew, "even though the Continuous Magic Card I sacrificed it to was destroyed, it was still sacrificed to it… so for the last time, I call back the Malice Doll of Demise."

As the doll put itself back together this time, it seemed aware of the changed circumstances. Its expression almost made Chad pity it.

"Next," Klaus continued, "I summon a monster known as Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, in Attack Mode!"

A gust of smoke marked the entrance of a sickeningly ugly, gargoyle-like creature. As far as Chad could tell, the thing did have 10,000 hands, but he wasn't about to count. (1,400/1,000)

"When Manju is Normal Summoned, I may use his special ability," Klaus went on. "It lets me search for any Ritual Magic or Ritual Monster card. I have the monster, but not the Ritual, so I'll search for that…" He did so, and then set it on his Duel Disk. "And now I play the Ritual Magic Card I searched for, Dreams of the Foul Sage!"

A mysterious castle formed behind Klaus, with a number of torches surrounding it. Something stirred within it, and the dark whispers in Chad's mind increased in volume, as if drawn to the castle.

The one-eyed man kept going: "To activate the ritual, I must give up a number of monsters with Level Stars equal to at least five. So I'll sacrifice Manju and the Malice Doll of Demise to fulfill this contract…"

Two dark specters descended from the castle, grabbing Manju and the Doll. They did not struggle, accepting their fate as they were dragged into the castle bodily.

"With that done," Klaus finished, "I may summon a monster you'll wish you had never met… the Oracle Lich!"

The castle suddenly exploded with dark energy, and a man stepped out of it. The dark energy flowed into his body, and he grew in size in one massive burst, becoming twice as large as Chad. As he grew, the man transformed – while he'd seemed normal before, he was utterly skeletal except for a shock of green hair at full size, and he had no lower body. The lich was clad only in a rotting purple robe, and he laughed in a deep, unearthly voice as the transformation finished. (1,900/1,400)

Chad blinked, and then shook his head. "Big overture, little show," he said. "That's rather weak, wouldn't you say?"

"Not for long," Klaus said, taking another card from his hand. "For now I equip the Oracle Lich with Ritual Weapon – only Ritual Monsters of Level Six or less can wield it, and he's Level Five. This makes his Attack and Defense Points 1,500 points higher!"

Drawing the weapon from within his own body, the Oracle Lich laughed again. (1,900/1,400 – 3,400/2,900)

Chad glanced to his facedown card and prepared to trigger it.

"But that's not the point of the Oracle Lich, so I won't be attacking with him," Klaus added.

In the back of his head, Chad uttered a number of profanities.

The one-eyed man held up one card and smiled evilly, setting it in one of his Magic and Trap Zones. "With that in place, I'll activate the true key card for my deck: the Tarot Circle Inverted!"

A number of Tarot Cards flew into place from nowhere, spinning and whirling around Klaus's body before gathering in a circle in front of him. Said circle looked a good deal like the ones restraining both duelists, but the positions of several cards were altered from where they were in the Tarot Circle Rejected.

"To unleash this card, I need to spend 1,000 Life Points and discard the top five cards of my deck…" Klaus's Life Points sank to 2,850, and he flicked five cards from his deck to the Graveyard slot; to Chad's annoyance, none were Spirit Messages. "…but now the Tarot Circle Inverted counts as _three_ Magic and Trap Card zones for the purposes of a certain card. Finally, I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." And Klaus did so.

Reaching for his deck, Chad drew his card…

"And now I activate the Destiny Board!" Klaus yelled, flipping the card face-up.

The world turned dark again, and a giant Ouija board appeared behind Klaus. The pointer was over the letter "F", and a white flame burned the letter into the ground at Klaus's feet.

"You know how this card works if you've ever seen the Battle City Finals," Klaus said, smirking. "At the end of each of your turns, I call forth another Spirit Message. Once I have all the letters in the word 'FINAL', the game is over, I am victorious… and you get replaced by a dark parody of yourself."

"Yes, that's true," Chad answered, "but if any part of the message is destroyed, then they're all destroyed. So what are the odds of getting them all out?"

"Fairly good, when you take the Oracle Lich's effect into account. While the Oracle Lich is face-up on the field, cards named 'Destiny Board' or 'Spirit Message' are immune to card effects – _I_ couldn't destroy them if I wanted to!" Klaus burst into laughter.

Gerald put his head in his hands. _This makes Dark Sanctuary look sick._

Groaning, Chad said, "I set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

As his turn ended, Klaus snapped his fingers. A white flame came from his deck, the Oujia board's pointer moved over the letter "I", and the flame burned the letter into the ground… inside the Tarot Circle Inverted.

"One more thing," Klaus said. "As I told you, the Tarot Circle Inverted counts as three Magic and Trap Card zones for certain cards. The only cards I can play to it are the Destiny Board and Spirit Messages… but that leaves me two Magic and Trap Card spaces for whatever I like. That means Ritual Weapon won't disrupt my plan in the slightest."

_Oh, perfect,_ Chad thought in despair. _As long as it has that Ritual Weapon, I can't do a damned thing to fight back. The only consolation is that he won't attack me, but in three of my turns I'm done for anyway._

"Now for my turn…" Klaus studied his hand, and then made one adjustment. "I switch Oracle Lich to Defense Mode, set a card facedown, and end my turn." The Lich crossed his arms and settled slightly in front of his master.

Growing more frustrated by the moment, Chad reached for his deck.

"Activate Time Seal!" Klaus declared, as the facedown card flipped up.

Pushed to the breaking point, Chad muttered, "Damn it. I pass."

As his turn ended, the Oujia board moved to the letter "N", a second Spirit Message took its place in the Tarot Circle Inverted, and a white flame burned the letter into the ground at Klaus's feet. "Two turns left, Mr. Montmelier," the one-eyed man taunted.

"I _know_ that," Chad hissed.

Drawing his next card, Klaus tucked it into his hand. "End turn," he declared.

This time, as Chad drew, his draw was fairly tentative. However, his opponent did nothing to interrupt it, and so he completed the draw and studied his hand. _Five cards and none of them will help me in the slightest!_ "I have to pass again," he said, sighing.

As the white flame emerged from his deck and burned the letter "A" into the ground, Klaus let out a long, drawn-out laugh of victory. He then drew his next card and said, "I pass once more. Make your final moves."

Gerald leaned forward, his face locked in an expression of worry. "Chad…" he whispered.

Chad drew… and then visibly relaxed. "I play Reload," he said, "which makes me shuffle my hand back into my deck and draw that many cards!" He did so, drawing back up to five cards… and then he couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so amusing?" Klaus asked.

"Simply that I've drawn what might be the most ironic card I could have drawn," Chad answered. "I play Spiritualism!"

On the sidelines, Gerald yawned and began to nod off.

"What does your card do?" the one-eyed man asked.

Chad replied, "Simply put, I choose one Magic or Trap card on your field and send it back to your hand. I know that your Destiny Board and Spirit Messages are untouchable… but you never said the same for the Tarot Circle Inverted!"

A cloud of ghosts burst free from the card and began to make their way across the fissure, towards Klaus's field and his card.

"Never!" Klaus declared. "I activate Magic Jammer!" He tossed a card into his Graveyard as he said it.

The Magic Jammer came to life, sending out its anti-magic fumes… but the ghosts passed through it without so much as a blink.

"What just happened?" the panicked Klaus yelled.

"Spiritualism cannot be negated by any means," Chad said. "So, what happens if Tarot Circle Inverted leaves play?"

Klaus began to weep from his good eye, muttering, "Any cards on it are removed from the game…"

The ghosts reached the Tarot Circle Inverted and pried it apart, tugging the cards out of position. As they did so, the Oujia board cracked in half, the pointer falling to the ground, and the burned letters faded into nothing in seconds. When the Destiny Board was nothing but a shell of memory, the ghosts flew into Klaus's hand, setting the Tarot Circle Inverted back into it.

"Now to bring this game to a halt," Chad declared. "I summon Enraged Battle Ox!"

An axe slammed into the fissure's edge directly in front of him. With a snort, a large minotaur walked up and pried it out of the ground, growling as he swung the weapon twice. (1,700/1,000)

"Next, I play Wild Nature's Release," Chad added, "which allows me to add a Beast or Beast Warrior-type monster's Defense Points to its Attack Points for the turn, but kills it at the turn's end. I choose the Mad Dog of Darkness."

The dog in question let out a massive howl, its muscles bulging as it did so. (3,300/1,400)

"And one more thing, my one-eyed friend…"

Klaus groaned. "Was that statement really necessary?"

"My apologies." Chad shrugged. "Either way, the Enraged Battle Ox grants all the Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters I control the power to deal damage through defense as long as he's face-up. Finally, I'll hit your facedown monster with Nobleman of Crossout!"

The nobleman drew his sword, shrugged, and rammed it through the facedown monster. The Earthbound Spirit appeared for a moment, and then warped out of sight.

Chad grinned. "Simply put, goodbye. Now Mad Dog of Darkness, attack the Oracle Lich!"

The Mad Dog barked, hurled itself across the fissure, and clamped its jaws into the Oracle Lich. It thrashed about in a frenzied state, tearing a massive piece out of the zombie. Emitting a scream of frustration, the Oracle Lich threw his hands in the air and shattered. In the process, Klaus's Life Points dropped to 2,450.

Pointing, Chad whistled. "Enraged Battle Ox, Pitch-Black Warwolf, finish him!"

The two Beast-Warriors crossed weapons, and then leapt high into the air. They came down axe and sword first, plowing Klaus to the floor and sending his Life Points to zero.

**0000000**

Degas and Alexander, watching it all, shook their heads.

"It seems Gerald will not be our only difficulty in this game," Degas said, adjusting his sunglasses.

Alexander smiled. "We never assumed he would be, though," he answered Degas. "Either way, shall we retrieve Mr. Engel?"

His partner nodded. "Even a dark and corrupt version of him may still have some use. And while you're at it, give Hanzaki a call…"

**0000000**

Chad shut off his Duel Disk and tucked his deck back into his pocket. He then glanced to Gerald, and was not surprised to see his friend was asleep again. "Every time," he muttered.

The tarot cards around his feet shifted, and he kicked them away, stepping out of the circle and stretching his legs. He then glanced across the fissure to his opponent.

Klaus was standing rod-still, hands at his sides and eye glazed over. Slowly, he shut his good eye, and then opened it anew… to reveal it was now a solid black.

Before Klaus could do anything further, however, a circle of darkness opened at his feet, and he disappeared into it.

Confused, Chad gently kicked Gerald in the ribs. The lazy duelist woke up, looked up at Chad, and said, "Good game."

"Do you always fall asleep when a duel ends?"

"Usually. You know, I have to ask… why a Beast deck?"

Chad snickered slightly. "I thought you'd ask. Beasts may have little to do with art… but they embody the wild spirit, which is essential for the artist. They are part of my heart as much as painting is. That and I like animals."

"I see…" Gerald murmured.

As they conversed, the air blurred nearby, and the Lycra-covered form of Hanzaki stepped out near them, applauding several times. He had an envelope tucked between two fingers of his right hand. "Good job, Mr. Montmelier! Mr. Engel didn't stand a chance against you!"

Both Gerald and Chad looked to him, and Chad answered, "Thanks, but… what are you doing here, anyway?"

In response, Hanzaki held out the envelope. "What? Don't you want your prize? I told you if you won you'd find a way to get to St. Paul, Minnesota…"

"Oh, yeah," Gerald said, suddenly recalling it. "I assume that's it?"

The Lycra-encased man nodded. In turn, Gerald slowly rose and took the envelope from him.

"See you there!" Hanzaki said, far too much enthusiasm coming through in his voice. He then danced backwards, the air blurred, and he disappeared.

Gerald opened the envelope and took out its contents – two plane tickets. "First class to St. Paul; the flight leaves today at noon from Gate 14 in the Portland International Jetport."

Chad nodded. "You packed last night, I presume?"

"During the brief period I was awake, yes. To your place, then?"

"Since you don't have a car, I assume so."

And so the two set off to retrieve their transportation.

**0000000**

Meanwhile, in the Portland International Jetport, a certain young man's cell phone went off. He stepped into a quiet area and answered it.

"Hello?" he said. "Yes? I understand. Gate 14, correct? All right. As you wish, Alexander."

He hung up the phone, rubbed idly at the black marks on the sides of his neck, and headed for the gate in question.

**TAROT CIRCLE INVERTED**

Type: Continuous Magic Card

Image: A series of tarot cards formed in a circle; at their center is the Major Arcana tarot called The World.

Effect: Pay 1000 Life Points and discard the top five cards of your Deck to the Graveyard. This card counts as three Magic/Trap Zones. Only cards named "Destiny Board" or "Spirit Message" may be played to these Magic/Trap Zones. If this card is negated, cards on it do not count as in play. If this card is destroyed, remove all cards on it from play.

**DREAMS OF THE FOUL SAGE**

Type: Ritual Magic Card

Image: A giant, floating palace, with a man holding a book standing at its door and looking skyward.

Effect: This card is used to Ritual Summon "Oracle Lich". You must also offer monsters whose total Level Stars equals 5 or more as a tribute from the field or your hand.

**ORACLE LICH**

Type: Ritual Monster

Statistics: Dark/Zombie/5/1900/1400/Ritual/Effect

Image: A giant human skeleton with no lower body and a shock of green hair on the top of the skull, wearing rotting purple robes.

Effect: This monster can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Magic "Dreams of the Foul Sage". You must also offer monsters whose total Level Stars equal 5 or more as a Tribute from the field or your hand. As long as this monster is face-up on your field, cards named "Destiny Board" or with the words "Spirit Message" in their names cannot be negated or destroyed.

_Coming next chapter: It's time for Gerald to demonstrate his new deck, as he is forced to battle an old acquaintance ordered not to let him on the plane. But something's wrong with his opponent physically. Gerald doesn't have time to figure out what, though, as his opponent's strategy is one that prods holes in his defenses! Keep an eye out for Chapter Four, "Unfriendly Skies"!_


	5. Unfriendly Skies

_**I've known a lot of people in my life… which is a given, as I've spent most of my life moving from place to place in the name of my parents's employment.**_

_**You know how you promise to keep in touch with people when you're separated from them? I never bothered to do that. It always seemed a waste when I would never see them physically again.**_

**_But now, for the first time in the entire time I've lived, I've run into someone I knew in my past again. In fact, it was someone I considered a good friend during my time in his hometown._**

_**Just my rotten luck it's under circumstances like this…**_

**Chapter Four: Unfriendly Skies**

It was just after 10:00 A.M. when Chad's Ford Windstar pulled into the airport's parking structure. (The young man in question would have preferred a smaller, more fuel-efficient car, but being nearly as tall as most basketball players meant he wouldn't have fit in one.)

After putting his car into park, he reached over and smacked Gerald on the shoulder. The lazy man woke up, blinked twice, and then yawned. "I'm guessing we're there now," he said.

"Yeah, we are. You _did_ bring the tickets, right?"

Reaching into his jacket (which was grey… just like his shirt and pants, and for that matter everything he wore), Gerald produced the envelope in question. "I don't forget important items," he said. "This is why I'm wearing my Duel Disk, after all."

Unbuckling, Chad slid out of his seat, saying, "It's not that you forget things, Gerald, it's just that I doubt they ever got into your memory in the first place. Your memory is as lazy as you are…"

"That was somewhat unnecessary," Gerald mumbled as he got out of his own seat, slouching around to the back and dodging the rising rear door. Finding his suitcase, he hefted it and made his way towards the airport proper.

Shaking his head, Chad took his own suitcase and followed his friend.

Just after they left the parking structure, a fire-red Jaguar XK8 with the top down pulled into the parking spot next to them. Its driver, a man in an elegant white suit, set one hand on the door and vaulted himself out of the car, landing cleanly in the space between his car and Chad's.

Examining the Windstar's license plate, he shook his head. "So zey're already here," he said to himself. "Ze Darkness is guaranteed to already be after them. I'd best hurry to their gate…"

A common phrase used to refer to people running is "They ran like a streak of fire". In the case of the man in the white suit, he literally _was_ a streak of fire as he ran.

**0000000**

In the mirror room within their lair, Degas clapped once. The array of mirrors glittered, and then the image changed from the airport parking structure to Gate 14.

"Our man is in place," Alexander said, reclining against the cushions of his chair. "I wonder how he'll fare against those two."

Degas shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he answered, signaling for a glass of wine. It appeared on the armrest of his chair, and he sipped it. "These are just the warm-ups, after all. If those two lose now, then they never deserved the Light's attention in the first place. If they win… well, we're saving the _real_ fun for when they get into town."

After a moment, Alexander chuckled. "I do admire your taste, though," he said. "I mean, choosing the opponent you did for them…"

"It was sheer luck he was in town when we began the set-up phase. Sometimes I'm convinced fate is in Darkness's portfolio."

**0000000**

By 10:45, Gerald and Chad had made their way through the check-in process and security clearance, and both were idly heading towards Gate 14.

"Duelists always get such a hassle when they're going through airport security," Gerald said, sipping the truly horrible coffee he'd picked up at one of the terminal's restaurants. For some reason, airport food was always several times worse than he assumed it would be.

Glancing to his Duel Disk to make sure all the pieces were intact, Chad shuddered a bit. "It's like they think we transport bombs in these things."

"Pity any player with D.D. Dynamite or Cemetery Bomb in their decks, then."

The two duelists arrived at Gate 14 and settled into chairs, waiting for the flight to be called. Unzipping his luggage, Gerald fished out a well-worn copy of War of the Worlds and began to flip through it, while Chad retrieved his copy of Books of Blood and set about his own reading.

Three seats down, another young man looked over his newspaper and noted the two of them. He folded the newspaper, set it down, and took a deck from his pocket, sliding it into his Duel Disk.

Glancing over the top of his book, Gerald sighed and said, "We're about to have company."

Chad saw it and nodded. The two set their books down and waited.

Soon enough, their "company" arrived. It was a man about Gerald's age, with short blonde hair and a fairly willowy physique, dressed in canary-yellow shirt and slacks.

Something didn't seem right, and soon the two realized what. There were large black marks on either side of the man's neck and on the back of both his hands, and each time he blinked, they could see that the veins in his eyes were black as well. In addition, he didn't seem to have pupils – his irises had taken over that space in his eye.

After a moment, Gerald stood up and looked the interloper over before finally saying, "My God… Aaron Torlar?"

"Glad to see you remember me, Gerald," the apparent Aaron Torlar said in return. "I thought seven years would have completely erased your memory."

Chad looked between them and said, "Gerald, you know this guy?"

"Yeah," his friend answered. "I went to school with him in Detroit when I was thirteen. We were very good friends until my family moved out of town again…" He shrugged. "I never could keep a friend for very long. So, Aaron… what are you doing in Maine?"

In response, Aaron raised his Duel Disk. "You and I are going to duel, right here and now."

Sighing, Gerald rubbed his temples. "Let me guess. You're working for Degas and Alexander, correct?" He winced slightly on saying Alexander's name.

"Exactly." Aaron took a small device out of his pocket; it looked like a nail clipper. "If you lose, I'll click this, which will set off small incendiary devices attached to your tickets and destroy them. In other words, your flight will be canceled… not that you'll care."

Despite his curiosity at what Aaron meant by not caring, Gerald asked instead, "And if we win?"

"You go to St. Paul. Oh, and if you attempt to ignore this challenge, the tickets go up in smoke anyway."

Chad leaned over to Gerald and whispered, "Think he's bluffing?"

"I doubt the masterminds behind all the chaos would resort to bluffing," Gerald answered. "Guess this is a necessary fight."

"We've only got an hour," Chad said. "Think you can get this done that quickly?"

Gerald smirked. "Final Countdown wouldn't have, but this deck is a bit faster than that." He then sat down and said aloud, "Let's duel, my old friend."

"We stopped being friends when you left Detroit." Aaron activated his Duel Disk.

Gerald shrugged, activating his own Duel Disk. "So you say."

Their Life Point Counters rose to 8,000.

"You may have the first move," Gerald said.

Aaron drew his opening hand, examined his choices, and then said, "I set one card facedown and one monster in Defense Mode. That ends my turn."

Gerald drew his own hand and said, "I set two cards facedown and summon Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

A humanoid robot stumbled into view. It looked a little like an early version of Jinzo, but with the number 07 stamped onto metal plates on its chest and shoulders. (500/400)

One of Aaron's brows lifted as he asked, "So, what does that thing do? It has to have some effect, or it would be worthless."

"Its effect is quite interesting," Gerald answered. "It can attack your Life Points directly no matter the situation. Jinzo #7, attack with Cyber Glitch."

Raising one hand, Jinzo #7 gathered a ball of purple energy and threw it over Aaron's face-down monster. The attack slammed into Aaron, and his Life Points lowered to 7,500.

"That ends my turn," Gerald said.

The other inmates of the airport began to gather around, the answer to their boredom having apparently come out of nowhere.

Aaron shook his head, drew a card, and said, "I switch my Flying Kamakiri #1 into Attack Mode…"

Something much like a bipedal fly rose from Aaron's face-down card and buzzed loudly, wings beating fast. (1,400/900)

"Next," Aaron said, "I summon Harpie's Brother in Attack Mode!"

From the sky, a dark-skinned male with large red wings swooped down, glaring at Gerald as he readied the talons on his feet. (1,800/600)

Gerald's response to the glare was to tap one button on his Duel Disk. The ground under the Harpie's Brother collapsed, and a yellow arm grabbed the birdman's ankle. Try as he might, the Harpie's Brother couldn't escape, and he was pulled down into the pit.

"Trap Hole?" Aaron asked.

"Trap Hole," Gerald confirmed.

"That doesn't prevent my Flying Kamakiri from attacking, though. Flying Kamakiri #1, attack Gerald with Buzzing Scythe!"

As the Flying Kamakiri #1 attempted to take to the air, Gerald said, "Despite being an airport, this is a no-fly zone. Activate Gravity Bind."

The silvery orb bobbed into view, and it sent off waves of visible energy, flooring the bug. It struggled, but couldn't rise off the ground.

Grunting, Aaron declared, "I end my turn, then."

Gerald nodded, drew, and said, "I set a card facedown and summon the Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode."

What appeared to be a cross between a snail and an ammonite flopped into view on Gerald's field, tentacles waving. (700/500)

As it emerged, however, something odd happened. The Jinzo #7 looked to the Servant and saluted. Gerald's eyebrow went up – that wasn't supposed to happen.

"So is your theme ugly monsters with low power?" Aaron asked.

"Actually," Gerald answered, "this monster shares a special ability with my Jinzo #7. Both can attack you directly, and they will now. Servant of Catabolism, attack with Electric Tendrils."

Leaping straight over Aaron's monsters, the snail-like creature grabbed hold of Gerald's opponent and sent some ten thousand volts of energy into his body. The willowy man let out a cry of pain as his Life Points sank to 6,800.

Shrugging, Gerald said, "Jinzo #7, continue the pain with another Cyber Glitch."

Charging up again, the machine lobbed a ball of energy at Aaron. It impacted, causing him to sink to his knees. His Life Points hit 6,300.

"I now end my turn," Gerald declared.

Straightening up, Aaron snapped the next card off of his Duel Disk and tucked it into his hand. After a moment, he nodded and said, "Your defenses will now crumble. I summon Harpie Girl in Attack Mode!"

There was a fluttering of feathers, and then a very short girl landed in front of them. She had pink-feathered wings, long blonde hair, and the cutest smile. Gently, she waved to the assembled crowd. (500/500)

Everyone in the crowd went, "Awwwww…"

The one exception was Gerald, who tilted his head and said, "I can see how she could slip under the Gravity Bind, but her power isn't quite enough to bring down my Servant, and she'd die fighting the robot."

"That's why I'm equipping her with Gust Fan!" Aaron replied.

"Oh."

The fan fell from above their heads and landed in the Harpie Girl's hands. She opened it, waved it twice, and giggled. (900/300)

Gerald could see what was coming, and so he just held his breath and waited.

"Harpie Girl," Aaron ordered, "take out the Servant of Catabolism with Fan's Winds!"

The Harpie Girl lifted the fan over her head and waved it several times, whipping up a small tornado. It blew across the field, hitting the Servant of Catabolism and tearing it to pieces. A piece of its body struck Gerald in the head, and he glanced at his Life Point counter as it changed to 7,800.

To Gerald's surprise, the Jinzo #7 turned and shook its fist angrily at Aaron.

"In response to that, I activate my trap, Attack and Receive," Gerald said as he hit the button. "If I take damage, I can trigger this to deal 700 points back to you."

A soldier leapt from the card as it lifted. He let out a yell, charged at Aaron, and slashed him across the stomach. He gasped as his Life Points went down to 5,600.

_Well, I see Gerald found a theme that works,_ Chad thought as he watched the duel. _He's got Aaron down to the five-thousands, and this is only Aaron's third turn. I wonder where he got the idea for that deck, though…_

After a moment, Chad pulled up sleeve and glanced to his watch.

_Fifty minutes left before boarding. Don't drag it out, Gerald!_

Shaking his head repeatedly, Aaron said, "That's it for me."

Gerald drew, wiping a bit of what was once the Servant of Catabolism off of his hair, and then examined his options.

"I set one monster in Defense Mode…" he began.

Aaron laughed, saying, "You know, this isn't Mai Valentine's deck, but I couldn't resist running one of her old cards. Activate Shadow of Eyes, forcing that monster into Attack Mode!"

As Aaron's card flipped up, there was a hint of perfume in the air. Suddenly, a massive gust of wind blew through the airport, and the air around both duelists turned a bright pink. Gerald's face-down monster turned over, and a large turtle with an island on its back rose from a sudden wave. (1,100/2,000)

"And the best part?" Aaron said, grinning evilly. "Your Island Turtle's a Level Four, so it's pinned by your own Gravity Bind!"

True enough, the orb sent off several shockwaves, forcing the turtle to the ground.

_Damn,_ Gerald thought. "In that case, Jinzo #7, Cyber Glitch him."

For a third time, the robot drew in its energy and blasted Aaron with it, knocking him to 5,100 Life Points… and also knocking him to the floor. He stood up, spitting.

"I end my turn," the seated duelist finished.

Aaron got up, glaring daggers at Gerald as he drew his next card. On drawing it, though, he smiled and played it immediately. "I summon Eagle Eye!" he declared.

A large, black-feathered bird of prey with a golden head flew in from above them, its wings blowing Gerald's sleeves about. (1,300/1,200)

"When I Normal Summon this monster," Aaron explained, "you can't trigger traps to it. Of course, you don't _have_ traps… but I still have an advantage from this monster, because it's only a Level Three!"

"Oh, dear," Gerald answered.

"Exactly. I set a card face-down, and then I attack with my Eagle Eye! Destroy the Island Turtle with Mountain's Talons!"

The bird took to the sky, and then dive-bombed the turtle with a hard strike from its talons. With a low groan, the amphibian shattered. Gerald sighed sadly as the turtle died, taking him to 7,600 Life Points.

"Now, Harpie Girl," Aaron continued, "shut down the Jinzo #7 with another Fan's Wind attack!"

The little winged girl giggled and whipped another tornado into life with her fan. This one picked up the Jinzo #7 and dashed it into pieces, raining gears and bolts on Gerald's head. His Life Points moved to 7,200.

At first, the lazy young man didn't think much of it… until a black mark showed up on his hand. Arching an eyebrow, he tried to rub the mark off, and when that didn't work, he held up his hand to Aaron and asked, "What's with this?"

Holding up his own hands, which were stained with the same marks, Aaron explained, "The infection has begun. You see, I'm currently the host to a nasty little disease we call the Darkness Infection. It's spread through defeat – if I defeat you, you'll be the next to come down with it. And once that happens…" He then giggled in near-insanity. "You'll be on our side, like it or not. Your good side is locked away by the Darkness Infection, and everything bad about you will be drawn to the fore."

"That's why you said I wouldn't care about my flight if I lost…" Gerald said, the realization coming like a baseball bat to the forebrain. "I don't think I'll be losing today, though."

"Try as you like," Aaron said. "My turn ends here."

Taking a deep breath, Gerald drew again. He then steeled himself and said, "I set a card facedown, a monster in Defense Mode…"

After a moment, he decided that Aaron hadn't set another Shadow of Eyes and relaxed.

"That's all I can do," he added.

Even as he drew, Aaron thought, _I know whatever he has in play is too strong for me to bring down with anything I've got at the moment. And since my one real anti-magic trick isn't in my hand, the cursed Gravity Bind will make dealing with the blockade even more difficult. Let's see what I get…_ He looked at his card and smiled. _This will help._

"I activate Pot of Greed!" he declared out loud.

Even as the chuckling piece of earthenware appeared, Aaron drew his two cards. His eyes went wide. _This is… I've got him now!_

"Draw something good?" Gerald asked.

"Something perfect, actually," Aaron said. "First, I play the card known as Harpie's Hunting Ground!"

The airport around them vanished as the hologram flared to life. They were now on a windswept plain, although the area the two duelists stood (or, in Gerald's case, sat) in was barren of any vegetation. Off in the distance, they could see mountains, which various winged creatures swooped about.

"Not a very good picnic spot," Gerald noted, "but I doubt that's the point. What're we here for?"

"First of all," Aaron said, "Winged Beasts gain 200 Attack and Defense points in this place."

Aaron's monsters stretched out their wings and let out chirrups of satisfaction. (Harpie Girl: 900/300 – 1,100/500; Eagle Eye: 1,300/1,200 – 1,500/1,400)

"Next," he continued, "I summon Harpie Lady 1 in Attack Mode!"

One of the winged creatures in the distance suddenly turned their way and swooped onto Aaron's field, landing directly in front of him. She had the usual arm-wings of the traditional Harpie Lady, but instead of the bluish skin and suspenders of that group, this one wore a purple body stocking, and her hair was long and red. She still had the talon feet, though. On landing in the Hunting Ground, she smiled wickedly. (1,300/1,400 – 1,500/1,600)

"They made a new set of Harpie Ladies, I see," Gerald said, his boredom growing ever more evident. "I heard they had individual effects…"

Nodding, Aaron explained, "As the eldest sister, Harpie Lady 1 has the most powerful effect – she gives all Wind monsters 300 extra Attack points."

The Harpie Lady 1 raised her wings, and all the monsters on Aaron's field (even the Flying Kamakiri #1, who was still struggling to keep upright) looked up as if inspired. (Harpie Girl: 1,100/500 – 1,400/500; Eagle Eye: 1,500/1,400 – 1,800/1,400; Flying Kamakiri #1: 1,400/900 – 1,700/900; Harpie Lady 1: 1,500/1,600 – 1,800/1,600).

Gerald shrugged. "Fat lot of good it'll do her. Remember my Gravity Bind?" He gestured to the silvery orb… only to see it was becoming cracked and letting out an odd whining noise. "All right, what's happening to it?"

"That's the other effect of Harpie's Hunting Grounds," Aaron finished. "Whenever I summon a Harpie Lady or Harpie Lady Sisters, I can destroy a Magic or Trap card on your side of the field, so the Gravity Bind is gone."

As he said it, the Gravity Bind shattered, causing Gerald's eyes to widen. The Flying Kamakiri #1 rose to its feet, and the duelist stared at his opponent's monsters.

"Get him!" Aaron yelled, and his monsters surged forward.

"Negate Attack," Gerald answered, flipping over his other facedown card.

A giant transparent wall flashed into view between Gerald and the attacking monsters, and they halted in place, hammering on the barrier.

Even as his monsters returned to him, Aaron said, "It doesn't matter. On your next turn, you will be destroyed utterly. I hope you weren't looking forward to your trip very much, as it will swiftly be canceled. My turn ends."

Chad grimaced. _Oh, this will not be good… And we only have about thirty-five minutes left. Gerald, you have to turn this around…_

Drawing his next card, Gerald quickly slapped it down. "I play Pot of Greed." He drew two more cards, and then sighed loudly. "I set two cards facedown, place one monster in Defense Mode, and end my turn."

It was Aaron's draw, and he did so, still smiling evilly. Glancing at the card, he looked to his hand, and then laughed. "Do you believe in the Heart of the Cards, Gerald?"

"I take the Fifth," the seated duelist replied.

"Odd answer… Either way…" Aaron showed him the card he'd just drawn. "I now activate Elegant Egotist!"

The entire crowd, Chad included, let out a gasp at that. Gerald just winced.

A spinning kaleidoscope of mirrors appeared in front of Aaron as he explained: "Elegant Egotist requires that I have a Harpie Lady on my field to use it. Harpie Lady 1 fits the bill nicely. With that being the case, I may Special Summon one of two monsters from my hand or Deck – either another Harpie Lady, or what I'm about to summon…"

The Harpie Lady flew in front of the mirrors, letting them reflect her. As the mirrors did, however, her reflections changed – they took on the form of three other harpies, each one wearing shiny yellow armor and each with a different hairstyle. They descended to the field as one, standing with the other monsters in Aaron's army.

"Meet the Harpie Lady Sisters!" Aaron cried out. (1,950/2,100)

The sisters admired the Hunting Ground around them, and then the Harpie Lady 1 flapped her wings, granting them a bit of a breeze that they truly appreciated. (1,950/2,100 – 2,150/2,300 – 2,450/2,300)

_Great,_ Gerald thought. _The winged women in the suspiciously spiky outfits are Winged Beasts and Wind-types as well… At least I have my facedown-_ Only then did he remember what the Hunting Ground did. _This is not good at all._

"Finally," Aaron declared, "the effect of Harpie's Hunting Ground triggers when I summon a Harpie Lady Sisters – I can destroy a Magic or Trap card on your field. I choose the one on the left!"

His chosen target shattered to pieces, and Gerald cursed silently. _That was my Mirror Force…_

Taking a deep breath and savoring the moment, Aaron shouted, "Harpie Lady Sisters, destroy his first face-down monster!"

The three harpies nodded, took to the sky, and came down in a tight spiraling formation, their talons digging into parts of Gerald's Humanoid Slime and throwing its remains every which way.

"Now, Harpie Lady 1, take out his other monster!" Aaron ordered.

Drawing her wings in, the bird-woman swung out with them, sending a razor-sharp wind through Gerald's monster. An Amazon Archer fell out of the card, cleaved in half, and shattered to pieces.

"In response to her death," Gerald announced, his usual bored drawl beginning to take on a hint of panic, "I activate my face-down Scapegoats."

The card flipped, and four tiny goats wandered onto the field, oblivious of their certain doom.

"Fair enough," Aaron answered. "Flying Kamakiri #1, Eagle Eye, Harpie Girl, slice up three of those goats."

The Flying Kamakiri descended on one of the goats, cutting it in two with a sweep of its scythe arm. The Eagle Eye grabbed hold of another goat and tore it open with its beak, while the Harpie Girl swung her fan and blew the third goat past Gerald's head.

"That will be it for me," Aaron said.

Reduced to top-decking, Gerald muttered to himself, "This had better work." He drew his card, looked at it, and added, "Well, it's not perfect, but…" He then said audibly, "I activate Spell Sanctuary."

As he set the card on his field, a temple of light glimmered into view on the very peripheral of the Hunting Ground. The Harpie Lady 1 and Harpie Lady Sisters glared at this intrusion on their hunting ground.

"So what does that do?" Aaron asked.

"Its immediate effect is that we both search our decks for a Magic Card of our choice and put it in our hand," Gerald answered, searching his deck as he did so. "The other effect lets us activate any Magic Card we please as a Quick-Play, regardless of what its type really is."

Shrugging, Aaron began to dig through his own deck, finally settling on one card in particular and tucking it behind the other card in his hand.

After finding the card he'd searched for, Gerald said, "I set this card facedown and have no choice but to end my turn."

Aaron drew his next card and then grinned evilly. "I play Share the Pain!" he announced. "Now I give up one of my monsters, and in return you have to give up one of yours. I sacrifice my Flying Kamakiri #1, and then you have to give up that last Scapegoat!"

A sword came into being just above the fly-mantis hybrid, and then plunged down and impaled it, causing it to shatter. At the same time, a sword appeared above Gerald's last defense and impaled it as well.

_He's going to summon another Harpie Lady, _Gerald thought to himself. _He can't be planning otherwise if he's opening up a space on his field. I hope he falls for it…_

"Next," Aaron said, "I summon Harpie Lady 2!"

Another monster broke off from her flight around the mountains and landed next to the Harpie Lady 1, smiling as she landed in the Hunting Grounds. Her hair was short and a fiery orange-red. Soon enough, she was caught up in the wind of her sister's special ability. (1,300/1,400 – 1,500/1,600 – 1,800/1,600)

"And as usual," Aaron continued, "when I summon a Harpie Lady, I can destroy a Magic or Trap Card on your field."

_Fall for it…_ both Gerald and Chad thought.

Aaron thought for a moment, and then said, "Nothing you could pull from the deck can save you without it, so I'll destroy your Spell Sanctuary!"

_Perfect,_ Gerald thought. Aloud, he declared, "I'll chain to the activation of Harpie's Hunting Grounds's effect by activating my face-down card, Messenger of Peace."

Even as the Spell Sanctuary began to crack and crumble, a calm-looking man in a white robe stepped out and extended his hands towards Aaron's monsters. They all looked at him reverently… except for the Harpie Girl, who was busy playing with her fan.

"Aagh!" Aaron yelled. "I change the effect's target…"

"You can't now," Gerald said. "The chain has already resolved. Now none of your monsters with 1,500 or more Attack Points can attack me, although I do have to pay 100 Life Points a turn to keep it active. I was hoping you'd go for the Sanctuary and ignore what I got from it."

"So be it," Aaron said. "My Harpie Girl only has 1,400 Attack Points, so she slides right under the effect. Harpie Girl, attack him directly with Fan's Winds!"

Giggling, the little winged girl swung her fan, sending a tornado right into Gerald. He winced as the cold winds sliced into him, sending his Life Points to 5,200.

"That's my turn," Aaron announced.

Noticing that he'd developed a matching black mark on his other hand, Gerald drew, cursing his luck at what he'd drawn. _The Messenger of Peace won't protect me forever. If he gets another Harpie on the field, I'm sunk. _"I pay 100 Life Points to maintain the Messenger of Peace and end my turn." His Life Points went to 5,100.

Aaron drew as well, sneering at the results. _Worthless!_ "Harpie Girl, attack Gerald again!"

Once again, the Harpie Girl waved her fan, and once again the cold wind bit into Gerald's body. He shuddered, and his Life Point counter dipped to 3,800.

_We have less than half an hour… okay, less than twenty minutes, _Chad thought as his eyes flicked from the duel to his watch. _You have to win this one, Gerald! And fast!_

Gerald shut his eyes, concentrating hard. _I have to get the final ingredient to victory on this draw, or I'll never draw a winner in time._ He drew his card, announcing before he even looked at it, "I pay 100 Life Points to keep the Messenger of Peace active." His Life Point counter moved to 3,700.

Turning the card over, Gerald looked at it. He then looked to his other card and exhaled. "First," he said, "I play Pot of Avarice. By shuffling five monsters from my Graveyard into my deck, I draw two cards." He took the five monsters from his Graveyard slot and showed them to Aaron – Servant of Catabolism, Jinzo #7, Amazon Archer, Humanoid Slime, and Island Turtle.

What looked like the Pot of Greed's goofy cousin descended into view as Gerald drew his two cards. He then smiled.

"I summon Mucus Yolk in Attack Mode," he said next, his bored drawl back to life.

The ground at his feet bubbled, and then purplish ooze worked its way into existence. It lay there, slowly growing larger, until it was about the size of a small birdbath. At its center floated a pink nucleus. (0/100)

Aaron looked at it, and then laughed uproariously. He took a moment to catch his breath before saying, "You mean that little pile of toxic waste is supposed to be dangerous?"

"First," Gerald went on, "I have to equip it with the Axe of Despair…"

As he said this, the Axe slurped into the Mucus Yolk's form, and it shuddered slightly. (1,000/100)

"And haven't you guessed my deck's theme yet, Aaron?" Gerald finished, lifting one hand.

It took Aaron a moment to work out what Gerald meant, but when he did his jaw dropped. "Don't tell me that thing can…"

"Mucus Yolk, attack him directly with Damaging Form: Axe," Gerald ordered.

The ooze lifted itself off the ground, took the shape of a giant axe, and began to spin rapidly. Once it had reached its maximum RPM, it threw itself at Aaron, slicing into his stomach and making him cry out. His Life Points hit 4,100.

As the ooze landed on Gerald's field once more, the seated duelist added, "And each time it hits your Life Points – directly or in battle – it gains 1,000 Attack Points." The ooze grew slightly. (1,000/100 – 2,000/100) "I set one card facedown to finish my turn. Your move."

Now somewhat frantic, Aaron snatched the next card off his deck. He glanced at it and thought, _Okay, this'll work… and if it doesn't work, I'm through! I have to drop a few Life Points for this, but a sacrifice is a sacrifice!_

"Harpie Girl," Aaron shouted, "attack the Mucus Yolk!"

The only person in the crowd not confused by the willowy duelist's order was Gerald. _I can see what he's planning,_ he thought. _Too bad for him I've got it covered._

The littlest of the Harpie Lady family waved her fan at the Mucus Yolk, but the ooze never shifted.

"Mucus Yolk," Gerald replied, "counter that with Attacking Form: Hammer."

The ooze turned itself into a giant hammer, which raised itself off the ground and came down hard on the poor chick. Feathers flew, and Aaron's Life Points went to 3,500.

"I needed the open slot for my next move!" Aaron said, laughing between words. "I go into Main Phase 2 and summon the last of the sisters, Harpie Lady 3!"

One more member of the group in the mountains fluttered onto Aaron's field. This one had spiky blue hair, and looked younger than her siblings. She cooed slightly as the effects of the Hunting Grounds and Harpie Lady 1 kicked in. (1,300/1,400 – 1,500/1,600 – 1,800/1,600)

"So, which of my cards will you destroy?" Gerald asked.

"The Messenger of Peace!" the willowy duelist answered.

Lifting one wing, the Harpie Lady swung a current of air at the messenger. He was gutted, and gasped before shattering.

"Since I already attacked," Aaron finished, "I'll end my turn with that."

Gerald drew, barely registering the card he'd drawn, and declared, "Mucus Yolk, strike him again with Damaging Form: Axe."

For a second time, the Mucus Yolk rose off the ground, turned into an axe, and spun itself silly before colliding with Aaron. He grunted as his Life Points tumbled to 1,500.

Now that the attack was done, he looked at the card and smiled. "I set this card facedown, and that's my turn," Gerald said, as Mucus Yolk grew larger again. (2,000/100 – 3,000/100)

Even as he drew, Aaron tasted his future… and it tasted foul. _This had **better** work._ "I start by playing Mystic Space Typhoon on your Axe of Despair!"

The gust of wind temporarily splattered the Mucus Yolk. It reformed quickly, but part of its mass was gone. (3,000/100 – 2,000/100)

"Next," Aaron declared in his triumph, "I activate Triangle Ecstasy Spark!"

Chad's eyes went wide. So did the eyes of all the onlookers. Gerald, meanwhile, yawned.

"Don't you know what this does?" Aaron said as his ire rose. "It makes my Harpie Lady Sisters's Attack go to 2,700! In addition, you can't activate traps for the rest of the turn and it negates all Continuous Trap Cards! Your Mucus Yolk is through, and you with him!"

Gerald merely flipped over one card on his Duel Disk, saying, "In response to Triangle Ecstasy Spark, I activate Compulsory Ejection Device and target the Harpie Lady Sisters, sending them back to your hand."

Aaron snickered, and then outright laughed, saying, "You can't activate traps, remember?"

"I said in _response_. I just made a chain." Gerald laughed himself, a little softer than Aaron. "The Spark hasn't resolved yet."

There was a pause, as that fact sank into Aaron's mind. He then screamed.

A large, cannon-like machine slid into place under the Harpie Lady Sisters. It launched several chains, pulling them into it despite their protests. The machine pointed straight up and then fired, launching them into the sky.

"They're back in your hand, so the Triangle Ecstasy Spark doesn't matter," Gerald noted. "None of your other monsters have enough Attack Points to threaten my Mucus Yolk. Anything more you'd like to do?"

Aaron didn't answer. Instead, the thin young man wept, head in his arms.

"Three… two… one… and your turn is forfeited," Gerald then said. "It's my turn." He drew. "Mucus Yolk, finish him with Damaging Form: Shroud."

The ooze floated over to Aaron one final time. It draped itself over the young man's body and squeezed tightly, making all his joints pop at once. His Life Points hit zero, and the duel ended.

And as usual, Gerald was fast asleep in his chair before the attack even finished.

**0000000 **

Elsewhere in the world, a force far greater than man or angel or demon saw the duel as it happened.

The force then thought inwardly, _And so his path begins._

**0000000**

Chad walked up to his sleeping friend and waved a hand in front of his face. After a moment's pause, he slapped Gerald soundly across the cheek.

The lazy duelist woke up and muttered, "Hmmmm? Oh, so I did win…"

"You did indeed," Chad said, "and in about ten minutes it won't matter. Get up! We have to get moving!"

Gerald nodded, and then looked to Aaron.

The willowy duelist didn't seem to be registering anything. He just stared into the ceiling, his arms at his sides and the cards falling off his Duel Disk.

And then Aaron let out a short scream, the black marks on his hands and neck evaporated, and he collapsed to the floor.

The two young men ran (or, in Gerald's case, ambled) to check on him. Chad put his fingers to Aaron's neck, waited a moment, and then sighed in relief. "Still has a pulse." He set his hand under the unconscious man's nostrils and added, "Breathing just fine, too."

Gerald, meanwhile, opened one of Aaron's eyelids. "He's got his pupils again," he quietly reported, "and the veins in his eyes are red again. My best guess is that defeating someone with the Darkness Infection is an instant cure."

"The airport staff can handle this better than we can," Chad said. "Let's go! We can't afford to miss this flight… literally!"

They headed off to the plane, suitcases in tow.

**0000000**

Degas snapped his fingers, and the mirror array shut off. "Scratch Aaron off the list of servants," he said calmly. "I suppose using old friends against him is no deterrent."

"But remember, we never expected it to be," Alexander noted. "If what I know of our mutual friend there is true, he never really cared about those he left behind after each move. It isn't his style."

"You make a good point," Degas answered, finishing his wine after speaking. He savored it a moment, and then asked, "Are the forces ready in the city?"

Alexander nodded. "The next challenge is lined up, and we have a steady line of other duelists waiting on the streets. The Darkness Infection is a very handy tool that way…"

"That's why Step One was spreading it throughout St. Paul," the man in black interrupted. "But perhaps we need more insurance…"

"Shall we wake up the first of the Pillars?"

"You're so adept at reading my mind it's almost scary, my friend."

**0000000 **

The 12:00 P.M. to St. Paul, Minnesota left the Portland International Jetport on time. On board, aside from multiple business travelers, were two duelists – one engrossed in the in-flight magazine and the other asleep as soon as the altitude leveled out.

On the floor of the airport, the elegant man in white watched the plane fly, muttering to whomever he was communicating with. "I have caught a glimpse of ze deck that Monsieur Laxina now favors. It is not quite what I expected of him, but it makes some degree of sense when you consider it. He now heads to where ze Darkness has encamped, and I expect further difficulty when he arrives. As you requested, I now go to keep an eye on him. Allumette out."

The man in white spread his arms, and then suddenly burst up into a sky in a bolt of fire. The fire turned itself towards the plane's path and followed it, just far enough away to avoid panicking the pilots.

**0000000**

Deep within the heart of Degas and Alexander's little hideaway, four pillars stood in the center of a pure black room. Each pillar was pure obsidian, and each had the faintest carving of a face upon one side. The room bore a tangible impression of utter darkness.

The two men, one in black and one in green, approached the southernmost of the pillars, admiring it from a distance. The face on this one was that of a young man, overconfidence clear in his smile.

"Shall we, then?" Degas asked.

"Of course," Alexander answered.

They both touched the pillar at the same time, concentrating briefly.

And then both men turned to leave… and behind them, a spider's web of cracks began to cross the pillar's surface…

**SPELL SANCTUARY**

Type: Continuous Magic Card

Image: An ancient temple on a hill with a glowing portal of light overhead.

Effect: Each player takes one Magic Card of his choice from his or her deck and adds it to his hand. Each player then shuffles his or her deck. While this card is on the field, players can activate facedown Magic Cards during their opponent's turns.

_Note: This card was first used by Kaiba in the original series episode "Clash in the Coliseum, Part One". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

_So what's with that pillar? You'll have to wait a bit for the answer to that…_

_Coming next chapter: After a bit of bad news on the plane, Gerald and Chad run into someone else Gerald used to know. This time, however, Chad deals with the blast from his friend's past – and discovers that the past seems to be that one's theme. It's beasts versus relics of days forgotten! Find out what happens in Chapter Five, "Antiquities!"_


	6. Antiquities

_**So, this is the city of St. Paul… I never thought it would be quite so big.**_

_**Of course, I haven't seen much of the city yet. We're still in the airport, after all. But what I can see out the windows is a bit of a shocker.**_

_**Still, I need to hold onto my senses. If Gerald's vision on the plane is any sign, we're not here for a vacation. In addition to that, this place just doesn't feel right. I'm not sure if it's the Darkness Infection or what…**_

_**I'll have time to think about all this later. The first step is surviving the duel one of Gerald's old friends just forced me into.**_

**_Gerald, I've said it before and I'll say it again… you _so** **_owe me._**

**Chapter Five: Antiquities**

By 2 P.M., the plane was nearing the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Chad was fairly deep into his book by that point, the world around him disappearing as he sank into the text.

Gerald, of course, was asleep in his seat. He'd woken up only once, and that was when the beverage service passed by. Other than that, he was in his traditional near-comatose state, head back against the cushions. Were he awake to state his opinion, he would have declared first class to be the only way to fly.

However, shortly after 2 P.M., something caused him to wake up. He blinked twice, rubbing his eyes and glancing around him.

"Something wrong, Gerald?" Chad asked, his attention piqued. "Normally, you wouldn't wake up until landing."

"I don't know," Gerald answered, one hand going to his temple. "My head's starting to hurt, though…"

And then a splitting headache overtook him. He grabbed the seat in front of him, breathing heavily as the pain hit him in a rush…

…and then he blinked, and the vision began.

**0000000**

_The city of St. Paul was under him, and he floated high in the air, looking down upon it._

_As Gerald looked down, confused, he could see a dark shroud pulling itself over the city. This, he decided, was the Darkness Infection that Aaron had talked about. _

_As he watched, the shroud suddenly descended, wrapping around one person in particular. When it receded, clinging now only to the person's ankles, the person had the same black marks on their body that Aaron had when Gerald dueled him._

_The vision flashed, and this person dueled another. The opponent lost, and the shroud wrapped around them. As the shroud pulled back, the defeated one had the black marks._

_  
Again the vision flashed. Now the first person from before dueled another again… but this time they lost. The shroud released their ankles, and the black marks vanished._

_And then the vision flashed one more time, and he could see the shroud wrap itself around one building in particular… a cathedral, it seemed. Standing atop the cathedral was a man._

_The man smiled and snapped his fingers, and the shroud grabbed everyone around him…_

_  
With that, the vision went dead._

**0000000**

Gerald opened his eyes and sat up, holding onto his head. As usual, the vision had left him with a pounding headache. "Argh… you'd think they'd have a better way to communicate than this…" he muttered.

A moment later, Chad reached across and tapped him on the shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Aside from feeling like I just got off a week-long bender, yes," Gerald answered. "Granted, now I have to work out what that vision meant. That will probably give me a worse headache than what I'm feeling now."

The plane went into its final approach for landing.

Taking a moment to think, Chad then asked, "Did it concern Degas or Alexander?"

As usual, Gerald winced at Alexander's name. "No… although there was a man in it, I couldn't recognize him."

"You still haven't told me why you reacted so badly when you saw them…"

"Chad," Gerald said, his voice grown suddenly cold. "If you're truly my friend, you'll stop asking about that."

At that point, the plane landed, and the conversation came to a halt.

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander sat down before the mirror array, and Degas snapped his fingers.

The mirrors were cloudy at first, but then took on the image of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Next to the baggage carousel stood their servant.

"The Light has sent Mr. Laxina a message," Degas muttered under his breath.

Alexander shrugged. "So let them," he replied. "It couldn't be anything of much concern to us. After all, rules are rules."

Degas put a hand to his chin. "You mean the Reciprocal, I take it?"

"Yes. The Light can only help them if a certain amount of Darkness is purged… and the price changes depending on the vision." A smirk crossed Alexander's face. "One Darkness Infected doesn't count for much by that rule."

Both of the men chuckled, and then Degas adjusted his collar, his mirth gone. "We must remember, however, that they are in the center of the Darkness Infection. Should their luck hold, the Light won't have much trouble aiding them."

"That assumes their luck holds, friend." Alexander leaned back in his chair. "But enough worries. Just enjoy the show for now."

**0000000**

A few moments later, the passengers on Flight 22 from Portland to St. Paul disembarked, among them Gerald and Chad. The two duelists had their carry-on luggage and their Duel Disks at the ready.

Still holding onto his head, Gerald had just finished describing the vision to Chad. The artist tilted his head and said, "Any clue what all that meant?"

"As far as I can ascertain," Gerald answered, "the shroud was the Darkness Infection. It seems we just walked into Ground Zero…" He then looked around and muttered, "Something's not right about this place."

"Yeah," Chad said, looking around himself. "This airport is _dead_. Is there even any staff left?"

Gerald frowned. "I can only hope there are still _people_ in this city other than Darkness Infected…" He then sighed. "Let's get our luggage and hope for the best."

**0000000**

Several gates away, a ball of fire descended from the sky, hovering outside a window. It formed two dark red patches, making sure there was no one in the room.

Thus assured, the ball of fire slammed through a window, melting it, before hitting the floor. Said fireball reformed into a man in an elegant white suit.

"Now to find Monsieur Laxina and his friend," the man whispered.

**0000000**

As the two duelists approached the baggage carousel, someone stepped in their way.

The intruder was fairly short, maybe five foot six, and somewhat stocky. He had dark, curly hair, and wore a brown jacket over a tan shirt and pants. A chain led around his neck and under his shirt. Needless to say, he had a Duel Disk, as well.

As with Aaron, he had black marks on his hands and neck, the veins in his eye were black, and he had no pupils.

"Good afternoon, Gerald," he said.

There was a pause, and then Gerald's eyes went wide. "Sol Kilkarn," he whispered. "The last time I saw you was the day before you moved to Duluth. I found myself thinking that I wasn't the only kid in class who moved a lot."

"Well, this is where I wound up," Sol answered. "Granted, I didn't expect anything like what's happening in this city… To be honest, I think I should have stayed in Manhattan."

"So… what happened to everyone else in this airport?" Chad asked.

"The bosses didn't bother to tell me." Sol shrugged. "They did tell me that unless you duel me and win, the same thing will happen to you."

Gerald shrugged, and then turned to Chad. "I think it's your turn. Besides…" He set one hand to the side of his head. "I still can't think straight fully."

Chad nodded, activating his Duel Disk. "Shall we, Mr. Kilkarn?" he asked.

Activating his own Disk, Sol nodded. "We shall."

Tugging their suitcases off the baggage carousel, Gerald sat down between them, observing the duel.

**0000000**

The man in the white suit stopped in his tracks. He had reached the baggage carousel, but was too late… again.

"Zis is not good," he muttered. "If zey are defeated… well, I can sense what has happened to zis place… I don't know where zey will go, but I doubt zey will get out.

"Curse my alignment. Unless ze circumstances change, I cannot even help them directly.

"But I can wish zem well. Zat is all I can do for now…"

**0000000**

"I'll allow you to have the first move," Sol said.

Drawing his opening hand, Chad sighed. _Can first hands get worse than this? At least I have a decent opening move…_ "I set a card facedown and set one monster in Defense Mode," he said. "That's it."

Sol drew his own opening hand, grinning as he saw what was in it. "Okay, then… I begin by playing the Continuous Magic Card known as Ancient Gear Castle!"

The baggage carousel behind him disappeared, covered now by a hologram of a massive castle. Several cannons sprouted from it, and a battering ram slid out of the doorway.

"What does it do?" Chad asked.

Sol answered, "Its second effect puts a counter on it whenever a monster is Normal Summoned or Set, and allows me to sacrifice those counters and the castle for Ancient Gear monsters. But for now, I'll summon the Ancient Gear Soldier in Attack Mode!"

A strange creation rose up from the earth. It looked like a haphazardly constructed man made of gears and steel, holding a machine gun and glaring out of one white eye. (1,300/1,300)

A torch lit up in the Ancient Gear Castle, and then a series of chains flew out from the ramparts. They latched into the Ancient Gear Soldier's body, tightening its gears. The monster stood up straighter. (1,300/1,300 – 1,600/1,300)

"The first effect of Ancient Gear Castle," Sol added, "is that it gives Ancient Gear monsters a 300-point boost to Attack Points. And the Soldier prevents you from activating cards when it attacks! Ancient Gear Soldier, attack his facedown monster with Ancient Gear Gun!"

Taking aim, the Ancient Gear Soldier fired several bursts at the facedown monster. It flipped, and suddenly a green kangaroo bounced into sight, blurring as it dodged each and every bullet coming at it. (1,500/1,700)

Chad smiled. "That is my Des Kangaroo," he explained. "Its special effect allows it to destroy monsters that attack it in Defense Mode but have a lower Attack score. So watch this…"

The Ancient Gear Soldier looked on in confusion, and then fired off one last burst at the kangaroo. The beast ducked under the first few bullets, and then punched the last one back at the machine. The bullet spun back at the mechanical soldier, smashing through its head.

As the carcass of his monster exploded into pieces, Sol just stared, his Life Points dipping to 7,900. "Okay, minor setback," he finally said. "This card facedown will have to do for now. I end my turn."

_Obviously a trap,_ Chad thought as he drew. _No need to go waltzing into it._ "I summon Pitch-Black Warwolf in Attack Mode!" he announced.

A snarling wolf-man leapt down from the rooftop, wielding a sword the length of a man's arm. He flexed one claw and growled. (1,600/600)

Another torch lit in the Ancient Gear Castle.

"And as long as this guy is in play," Chad added, "you can't activate Trap Cards during the Battle Phase – either of ours. Pitch-Black Warwolf, attack him directly with Lupine Blade!"

The wolf-headed monster howled, and then lunged forward, slamming his sword hard into Sol's ribs. The duelist grunted as his Life Points shot down to 6,300.

"With that, I set a card facedown and call it a turn," Chad said. _I might have gotten off an early shot,_ he thought to himself, _but this duel just started. Unless he's a total fool, that's the last easy hit I'll land._

Grunting as he massaged his ribs with one hand, Sol took a moment to consider his hand. He then drew his next card and paused. "I set a monster in Defense Mode and one card facedown," he announced. "That will be my move."

Chad drew…

"I activate Rock Bombardment!" Sol announced, flipping his facedown card.

Off to the side, Gerald ducked and covered.

"Rock what?" Chad asked.

Sol took a card from his deck and slid it into his Graveyard, saying, "For this to work, I have to send a Rock-type monster from my deck to the Graveyard. Once that's done, you take 500 Life Points of damage. So… _incoming!_"

A shadow appeared at Chad's feet. He looked down… and then looked up.

To say he was surprised when the rock hit him would be an understatement.

After the hologram disappeared, he climbed to his feet, his Life Points now at 7,500. "Now I know how Wile E. Coyote used to feel," he grumbled.

After a moment to catch his breath, the artist looked at his hand, and then at his field. "I summon Berserk Gorilla!" he finally said.

A rampaging gorilla pushed Chad out of the way and began to charge across the field, snorting fire from its nostrils. Chad whistled sharply, and the gorilla slumped back to his side, glaring at him. (2,000/1,000)

Three torches now glowed in the windows of the Ancient Gear Castle.

"As you can see," Chad said, "trying to keep the Berserk Gorilla under control is a futile effort. So…"

_If I flipped Des Kangaroo to Attack Mode,_ Chad thought, _I could savage him this turn once the face-down monster was gone. But who's to say I wouldn't pay for it? He could have Ancient Gear Golem already, for all I know, and those counters are adding up. Best not to risk it._

"Get him, Berserk Gorilla!" Chad ordered.

The gorilla threw itself across the field, clasping its fists and bringing them down hard on the facedown monster. An ancient statue rose into view, and it absorbed the blow from the Berserk Gorilla without even chipping. (300/2,000)

"The Stone Statue of the Aztecs is more durable than that," Sol said, laughing after the fact.

Chad merely pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "But it's not durable enough for this! I activate Wild Nature's Release, letting me add Pitch-Black Warwolf's Defense score to its Attack!"

Gerald sat up, smirking as he watched the move.

The Pitch-Black Warwolf's eyes went wide, and it howled at the top of its lungs, breaking its sword in half and throwing it away. (2,200/600)

"Oh, my," Sol muttered.

Chad nodded, and then said, "Pitch-Black Warwolf, attack with Lupine Rage!"

The wolf-man snarled and hurled itself at the statue, smashing it with one sweep of its arm.

"That's my turn," Chad said, "and Wild Nature's Release now destroys my Warwolf…"

With one last howl, the Pitch-Black Warwolf vanished.

Sol glared at his opponent, drawing his next card. He then said, "I'll destroy the Ancient Gear Castle to summon Ancient Gear Beast!"

One of the torches in the castle went out, and then the edifice began to crumble. With a low echo, the building fell in under its own weight, and something rose from the dust within. Much like the Ancient Gear Soldier before it, the Ancient Gear Beast rose from the ground. It looked like a large dog, but made out of metal and gears instead of flesh and bone. (2,000/2,000)

"A proper Ancient Gear duelist doesn't carry just one of them, however," Sol continued. "So now I'll play another Ancient Gear Castle." Even as he said it, the castle rebuilt itself behind him, inert torches showing in its windows.

As with the Soldier, a set of chains flew out from the Ancient Gear Castle and attached to the machine's body, tightening the gears within it and raising its power. (2,000/2,000 – 2,300/2,300)

"Attack, my Beast! Destroy the Des Kangaroo with Gear Fangs!" Sol commanded.

The Ancient Gear Beast lunged forward, bringing its fangs down hard on the green kangaroo and tearing it in two.

Chad blinked, and then thought, _Oh, my… He could have attacked the Berserk Gorilla and hit my Life Points, but why do that when I'll have to do it **for** him because of Berserk Gorilla's effect? Now he's guaranteed I'll lose at least two monsters to that metal puppy…_

"I set this card facedown and end my turn," Sol finished.

As Chad drew, Sol declared, "I activate a second Rock Bombardment, sending a Giant Soldier of Stone to my Graveyard to deal you 500 points of damage!"

"Oh, not this again!" Chad yelled, covering his head with one arm. It did no good, as a second rock landed on him and knocked his Life Points to 7,000.

_Maybe he could use a tiny umbrella,_ Gerald thought.

As the dust cleared, Chad stood up, busily sweeping off his shirt and pants. "Now that you've had your fun…" he muttered, and then examined his hand. _Oh, this is pathetic._ "I set one monster in Defense Mode, and switch the Berserk Gorilla to Defense Mode… which kills it."

He wasn't lying – the frustration of being forced to stop its attacks caused the Berserk Gorilla to explode in an angry fireball.

"That's it for my turn," Chad concluded.

Snatching up his next card, Sol grinned foully, a look not made any more pleasant by his Darkness Infection. "I begin by playing Pot of Greed," he stated. As the evil pot floated before him, he drew his two cards. "Next, I set a monster in Defense Mode…"

Chad glanced to the Ancient Gear Castle, and groaned as two torches shone in its windows.

Sol continued, "And now, Ancient Gear Beast, attack his face-down monster with Gear Fangs!"

The metal dog lunged forward and bit into the face-down monster, which turned out to be a Mad Dog of Darkness. It thrashed about, ripping the other dog to pieces and sending bits of it everywhere.

"That's it," Sol said.

_Come on, deck, _Chad thought as he drew. Once the card was in his hand, he looked at it… and then looked at it again. _Excellent!_ "I'll start with my own Pot of Greed!" he said.

Gerald watched Chad draw, and caught a glimpse of his hand. _This should be interesting._

"All right, now watch closely," Chad continued. "I begin with Polymerization, letting me fuse two monsters from my hand. I choose Mystic Horseman and The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion, which can replace any Fusion-Material monster!"

Two monsters appeared on Chad's field; one was the familiar centaur that was known as the Mystic Horseman, while the other was a vaguely spherical pile of rocks. They came together…

"With the power of Polymerization, I create the Rabid Horseman!" the artist cried.

When the traditional fusion lightshow ended, a vicious beast-warrior emerged. It had the lower body of the Mystic Horseman, but its upper half was the Battle Ox, and it was carrying the Battle Ox's axe. It swung that axe and roared. (2,000/1,700)

"Next," Chad continued, "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your face-down card…"

The gust of wind flipped over Sol's Sakuretsu Armor and shattered it to pieces.

"And finally, I equip the Rabid Horseman with Invigoration, raising its Attack Points by 400 at the cost of 200 Defense Points!" Chad concluded.

A burst of light came into being behind the Rabid Horseman, and it snorted as its muscles bulged. (2,400/1,500)

Chad smiled. "Rabid Horseman, attack the Ancient Gear Beast with Rabid Axe Strike!"

The minotaur/centaur crossbreed galloped forward, pulled to a halt, and then slammed his axe into the Ancient Gear Beast. It shattered into multiple pieces, a gear rolling by Sol's foot.

The infected duelist glanced at his Duel Disk, which now read 6,200.

"Since my hand is empty, that's it for this turn," Chad said.

Sol frowned, drawing his next card and examining his choices. He then reached down and flipped over his facedown monster. "I flip Golem Sentry!"

For all intents and purposes, the resulting monster was a stone door holding a staff. (800/1,800)

"When this monster is flipped," Sol explained, "I can send one monster on your side of the field back to your hand – or in the Rabid Horseman's case, back to your Fusion Deck! Go, Golem Sentry!"

Suddenly, the Golem Sentry was standing _behind_ the Rabid Horseman. The door in its center opened, and a hand grabbed the Horseman's arm. Before it could react, it was drawn through the door, which slammed shut. The Golem Sentry moved back to Sol's field, where it stared at Chad intently.

"And now," Sol added, "I can use its other effect to switch it to Defense Mode again. How efficient can you get?"

Chad was too busy staring at where the Rabid Horseman had once stood to reply.

"Now I summon Ancient Gear Cannon!" Sol declared.

The floor in front of Sol opened up, and with a whirring of gears, a twin-barreled cannon rose from the floor, training its guns on Chad. (500/500)

Even as another torch lit in the window of the Ancient Gear Castle, chains slammed into the Cannon, tightening its gears. (800/500)

Chad swiftly hit a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Call of the Haunted, bringing my Mad Dog of Darkness back from my Graveyard!"

A haze came from the Graveyard as the Mad Dog rose into play, snarling.

With a gulp, Sol muttered, "I end my turn, then…"

Reduced to drawing his top card, Chad made a silent prayer and drew. He glanced at his card, and then grinned. _Excellent!_ "I summon Enraged Battle Ox in Attack Mode!"

The monster that emerged was very familiar to all three duelists, as its upper half was identical to the upper body of the Rabid Horseman. This one, however, had its own legs… not to mention an insane glare. (1,700/1,000)

In the easily forgotten Ancient Gear Castle, another torch flared to life, making four.

"Mad Dog of Darkness, attack Sol's face-down monster!" Chad ordered.

Gerald tilted his head, muttering, "Won't that just get one of your monsters bounced?"

Shaking his head, Chad smirked. "I know the downside to Golem Sentry – that bounce effect only goes off if it's Flip _Summoned_!"

"Clever," Sol hissed.

The Mad Dog of Darkness pounced, raking its nails against the Golem Sentry's door. The Sentry tried to hold it off with its staff, but soon enough the dog smashed open the door, and the Sentry collapsed.

"And thanks to the Enraged Battle Ox," Chad added, "any Beast or Beast-Warrior I summon gets its trampling effect!"

Sol grunted as his Life Points sank to 6,100.

"Now, Enraged Battle Ox, attack the Ancient Gear Cannon!" Chad declared.

Just before the minotaur's ax made contact, Sol announced, "I activate the Ancient Gear Cannon's effect! By sacrificing it, I can deal you 500 Life Points of damage!"

One shot floored the Enraged Battle Ox, and then the cannon let off a loud whine and fired off the second shot, knocking Chad down and dropping his Life Points to 6,500.

After the shot, the Enraged Battle Ox limped back to Chad's field, and the Ancient Gear Cannon exploded, filling the area with smoke.

"That's my turn," Chad muttered.

Sol smirked, pulling his next card into his hand. "I set a card facedown, set a monster in Defense Mode, and call it a turn," he said.

"I call it pathetic," Chad said as he drew.

Just as the card left his deck, Sol announced, "I activate a third Rock Bombardment, sending Dummy Golem to my Graveyard to activate it!"

As the third rock descended onto him, Chad whimpered. "You must be joking…"

_On the plus side,_ Gerald thought as the dust settled from the rock's impact, _that was the last one. Sol's used all three of his Rock Bombardment traps now. Doesn't make it any less painful, I suppose, but he won't be able to do that again._

"Forget my Duel Disk," the artist said as he stood up, clutching his head. "I need a hard hat." His Life Points now read 6,000.

More important, however, was the black mark on his right hand. _Damn it,_ he thought. _The Infection's trying to get a foothold._

After a glance to his one card in hand, he said, "I play Poison Fangs. Now, every time a Beast-type damages your Life Points, it does 500 extra points. Enraged Battle Ox, attack his face-down monster!"

The minotaur leapt skyward, bringing his axe down on the target. Said target, a human-shaped stone figure, grabbed the Enraged Battle Ox's arm, preventing the axe from making contact, and then threw it back into Chad, knocking both down. (1,000/1,900)

"My Mine Golem is a bit too strong for that," Sol said.

Chad grimaced as his Life Points hit 5,800. "My turn's over, then."

Sol concentrated, his fingers resting lightly on his deck, and then drew his next card. Glancing to it, he snickered, and then began to laugh, before finally declaring, "I remove two counters from the Ancient Gear Castle and send it to the Graveyard to summon Ancient Gear Golem!"

Two torches went out in the windows of the castle, and it too collapsed, leaving a pile of rubble. The floor of the airport seemed to shatter between the duelists, throwing debris from the late castle every which way, and then a gigantic metal man rose from the shattered space. It had two visible gears, both turning as it rose, and its right arm was much larger and more substantial than the left. One red eye glowed as it glared at Chad. (3,000/3,000)

_Oh, dear,_ Gerald thought, staring up at the Ancient Gear Golem. _That's one of the rarest machines in the game… with good reason._

As if that weren't enough, Sol slid a card into his Duel Disk, and a third Ancient Gear Castle rose behind him. The castle launched several chains into the Golem's back, tightening its gears. (3,300/3,000)

"Crap," Chad said.

"Ancient Gear Golem," Sol declared, "attack the Enraged Battle Ox! Ultimate Pound!"

Drawing its right fist back, the Golem brought it down hard, obliterating the Battle Ox and throwing Chad backwards, his Life Points plummeting to 3,200.

As Chad got up, he touched his neck… and felt a black mark come into being there. _I have to do something quick,_ he thought, _or I'm in for a nasty rash…_

"I set this facedown," Sol finished, "and end my turn."

_If the Golem is like the other members of the Ancient Gear family,_ Chad reasoned, _then I can't stop it with a Magic or Trap card. I need some other way to put this to a halt._ He looked at the card he'd drawn. _This isn't fair!_

"I set a monster in Defense Mode, switch my Mad Dog of Darkness to Defense Mode, and call it a turn," Chad groaned. The Dog sat on its haunches.

Even as Sol drew, he smirked. "I forgot to mention that Ancient Gear Golem can damage your Life Points through Defense Mode, didn't I?"

Chad and Gerald exchanged hopeless looks.

"Ah, well," Sol said. "Ancient Gear Golem, attack the Mad Dog of Darkness with Ultimate Pound!"

For a second time, the mechanical menace drew its arm back, smashing through Chad's monster and catching the artist in the gut. Chad merely groaned as his Life Points hit 1,300.

"That'll do it for me," Sol said.

Looking to Gerald, Chad pointed to his eyes. "The veins turn black yet?"

"Afraid so," Gerald said, sighing.

The artist struggled to his feet, thinking, _Last chance…_ He drew, and then thought, _Not perfect, but it'll save me for now! _"I play Card of Sanctity!" he declared.

Both duelists drew, Chad drawing six cards and Sol drawing five.

"Next," Chad said, "I'll dispose of that cursed Ancient Gear Castle with a burst from Heavy Storm!"

Sol gasped, as the storm destroyed both his Ancient Gear Castle (the chains from which ripped out of the Ancient Gear Golem as it collapsed) and his face-down Mystical Space Typhoon. Chad's Poison Fangs shattered as well, but he didn't care.

"Now I summon Bazoo the Soul-Eater!" Chad continued.

A giant, purple-furred baboon leapt down onto Chad's field, hooting. (1,600/900)

Glancing to his Ancient Gear Golem, Sol asked, "Mind explaining how that zoo reject could be a threat to my machine?"

Reaching into his graveyard, Chad removed three cards, explaining, "Bazoo's called the Soul-Eater for a reason. By feeding it up to three souls – in other words, removing three monsters from my Graveyard – I can raise its Attack Points by 300 for each one consumed. That raises its Attack to 2,500!"

Digging into the floor, Bazoo retrieved a glowing orb, which it devoured. It did this again, and again, and then let out a loud hoot of satisfaction. (2,500/900)

"Still too weak," Sol said.

"That's why I have another Wild Nature's Release," Chad answered. "Gruesome as it is, Bazoo's still a Beast."

The baboon screamed in rage as the rush struck it. (3,400/900)

Sol took several steps back.

"Bazoo the Soul-Eater," Chad commanded, "attack the Ancient Gear Golem with Soul-Gorged Rush!"

With a leap skyward, the baboon crashed down into the Ancient Gear Golem. It tore open the machine's chest and began to rampage through the creature's body. Finally, it emerged out the back before scampering to Chad's side of the field. Wrecked beyond repair, the Golem toppled over, exploding.

Sol's jaw dropped, and he just stared as his Life Points went down to 5,700.

"I set a card facedown and end my turn," Chad said. "Now Wild Nature's Release kills my Bazoo…"

With one last hoot, the baboon died.

Sol looked down at his hand. _How can I have six cards and nothing to save me? Best try to knock the last few points off of him… _"I switch Mine Golem to Attack Mode, and then summon another Mine Golem in Attack Mode!"

Another Mine Golem dropped alongside the first.

"Mine Golem on the left, attack Chad's face-down monster!" Sol demanded.

"Activate Mirror Force!" Chad replied.

The Mine Golem hurled itself at the target, only to hit an invisible wall. It exploded, and its explosive force struck the other Mine Golem, detonating it in turn and leaving Sol's field bare.

A look to his hand revealed nothing useful (how he could have five cards and nothing good was still beyond him), and so Sol muttered, "My turn ends."

Chad drew his own next card, smirked, and played it. "I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back my Mad Dog of Darkness!"

The holy symbol shined above them, and then the Mad Dog of Darkness rose to life. (1,900/1,400)

"Next," Chad declared, "I flip my Magician of Faith into Attack Mode!"

The weak spellcaster stood up, brushing off as she did so. (300/400)

"This lets me retrieve a Magic Card from my Graveyard," he continued, "so I'll bring back and play Poison Fangs. Next, I summon my other Berserk Gorilla!"

In front of Chad, a pair of green fangs came from nowhere. From behind him, the second gorilla charged into play, pounding its chest. (2,000/1,000)

"Finally," Chad finished, "I play Forest, giving all Beast-type monsters 200 extra Attack Points!"

Around the duelists, the airport disappeared, replaced with a massive forest. Both of the beasts relaxed as they entered their favored environment. (1,900/1,400 – 2,100/1,600; 2,000/1,000 – 2,200/1,200)

Gerald began to doze off by the baggage carousel.

Stammering, Sol tried to back away, only to bump into a tree.

"Magician of Faith," the artist began, "attack with Holy Crescent!"

The magician gathered some power, and then swung her staff at Sol, hitting him with a wave of energy and making him grunt. His Life Points went to 5,300.

Chad continued, "Mad Dog of Darkness, sic!"

The dog sprang forward, biting into Sol's leg. Yelling, the ancient gear duelist shook it off. His Life Points went to 3,200, and then down to 2,600 as the Poison Fangs glowed.

"Finish him, Berserk Gorilla!" Chad declared.

The gorilla ran forward and slugged Sol in the gut, causing him to slump to the ground. His Life Points reached 400, and then clicked to zero as the Poison Fangs hit.

The duel ended.

**0000000**

The mirror array broadcast the end of the duel, but no one was watching it. Degas and Alexander had drifted away when Chad had played the Forest.

Instead, the two were in the pillar room, watching the final pieces of obsidian fall from the cracked southernmost pillar. The final shards fell…

…and the man within it opened his eyes. He was wearing a silver jumpsuit, a cape of the same color swishing around his shoulders, and his blonde hair came down to his shoulders. After a moment of getting his senses back, he smiled.

"Welcome back to the world, Mr. Viper," Alexander said.

"So I am needed," the man called Mr. Viper said, his voice deep and resounding. "What sort of situation requires a Pillar of Darkness?"

"We need you to deal with someone very important," Alexander replied. "The Chosen of Light is in town."

The smile on the Pillar's face turned into a grin. "I understand fully. Shall I strike immediately, or do we have a trap to set?"

Degas pressed a photo into Viper's hands. The man looked at it and gasped.

Alexander smirked. "That answers your question, I take it?"

"Indeed," Viper said, much more serious than before. "I shall get straight to it."

**0000000**

Gerald woke up, still sitting against the luggage. He looked between Chad, who was shutting his Duel Disk down, and the unconscious form of Sol, who now lacked any of the markings of a Darkness Infected. He'd fallen asleep on the last blow, as always, but it was pretty obvious how things had turned out.

"So that's that," Gerald said, using one of the bags to help himself up.

Chad nodded, and then the two heard applause. They turned in its direction, and then they saw who was applauding.

It was a man in a very elegant white suit, apparently in his thirties. He had pure white hair, parted on the left, and he wore gold rings on every finger on his right hand. His bearing was one of extreme confidence.

"I congratulate you, Monsieur Montmelier," he said, a light French accent peppering his words. "You did very well against one of ze less pleasant decks I've seen… and I have seen plenty."

"Thanks," Chad said. "And your name is…"

"You may call me Lucifer Allumette," the man answered. "I am also known as ze Beloved of Fire, but zat title means little to nothing at zis point. I am a servant of ze forces of Dreams."

"Dreams?" Chad muttered.

Gerald explained, "There were four pieces in the Balance in my first vision – Light, Darkness, Dreams, and Shadow. Dreams and Shadow were across from each other…"

"And Shadow is my enemy, indeed, but Darkness and Dreams are not on friendly terms, either," Lucifer finished. "When ze Darkness began to move, I was sent to keep an eye on it. Zankfully, so far, it seems ze Light knew what it was doing when it chose its servants for zis job."

Gerald and Chad shared a look. Both were thinking the same thing: _Servants of light? When did the light make us its "servants"?_

Finally, Gerald said aloud, "Is it like this all over the city?"

Lucifer replied, "Mercifully, no. Zis airport was struck with a much more virulent form of ze Darkness Infection zat claimed everyone in it except for a handful of people in ze control tower; zat form has died out. Ze rest of ze city is currently under siege from ze form zat Monsieur Kilkarn exhibited."

"So in other words," Chad said, "we won't have to worry about needing to hunt for food because the stores are empty, among other things."

"Speaking of which," Lucifer said as he opened his coat, "ze forces of Dreams asked me to give you zis." He took an envelope from an inside pocket and handed it to Gerald.

Gerald raised an eyebrow, and then withdrew a large bundle of cash, with something tucked into it. That "something" turned out to be a key. "This is a key from the Minneapolis Hilton," he muttered.

"Some spending money and a place to stay," Lucifer answered. "Ze room is paid up for ze next two weeks. Since I cannot help you more directly, it is ze best I could do."

"Wait a minute!" Chad interrupted. "What do you mean you can't help us more directly?"

The man in the white suit sighed. "I am afraid zat servants of Dreams are forbidden to directly engage in conflict against ze Darkness. We are only allowed to directly interfere in cases involving ze Shadow. Unless ze Shadow joins hands with ze Darkness, I can only aid you indirectly, such as zat way."

"Well, thank you," Gerald said, tucking the money into his pocket. "But how will we get to the hotel?"

"Call a taxi, I suppose," Lucifer answered. "I must now report to ze Dreams. Zere _is_ one way I might aid you – if I find anything of interest concerning ze Darkness and its actions, I shall report it to you. Consider it my way of making up for having my hands tied. Good luck, servants of ze Light."

And with that, he vanished in a burst of flame.

Once they had recovered from their confusion, Chad and Gerald looked at each other again. "Well, he seems honest enough," Chad said.

"Perhaps… but something about him irks me," Gerald replied.

The two then walked out of the airport, Gerald rolling the keys between his fingers.

**0000000**

It was about an hour later when Sol woke up.

He blinked twice, and then moved to his knees, taking a few deep breaths. It was some time before he realized what had happened.

Once the realization struck him, he put his head in his hands and groaned. _Oh, God, what did I try to do to them? Infection or no infection, I threatened their lives! That sort of sin can't be forgiven…_

He tried to stand up, but another wave of guilt hit him, and he sank back down, cursing himself.

Suddenly, he remembered his Duel Disk. He looked to it, recalling how close his duel with Chad had gone.

The guilt vanished. _That's what I'll do,_ he thought. _I can't forgive myself, but I can work to repay them for what I tried to do. I'll find them… and I'll help them defeat the Darkness._

Something else occurred to him, and as he stood up, he muttered aloud, "Of course, the first step to that is figuring out where they actually _are_…"

_Coming next chapter: Once they've settled into St. Paul, Gerald and Chad begin to look for Laura. But the city is not quite what it seems, and there's more to worry about than just the Darkness Infection. That, however, is still a threat – as Gerald learns when he's attacked by someone whose need for speed has taken a decidedly unpleasant turn! How will Gerald deal with a Duel Monsters grease monkey? Find out in Chapter Six, "Streets of Fire"! _


	7. Streets of Fire

_**Somewhere in the city of St. Paul, there is a girl who knows the meaning of the world "Kanlon". This girl seems to be important to the Darkness, and presumably that's why she was kidnapped and taken here. She's somewhere in this city, and I have to save here.**_

_**Now if the Light could only give me a vision as to where I could find her…**_

_**But at the moment, she's only a tertiary concern. The secondary concern is driving the Darkness out of this city and saving the 200,000-plus people living in it.**_

**_The primary concern is keeping from catching a nasty case of the Darkness Infection. And at the moment, the grease monkey I'm facing is very enthusiastic about giving me a dose of it._**

****_**  
You know, I don't even have a driver's license. Why did I have to face the gearhead?**_

**Chapter Six: Streets of Fire**

It was fairly late in the evening, but there was activity in the city of St. Paul. Hidden away in a spot concealed from the eyes of most passerbies, three men and a young woman were gathered in or around a massive cage of iron.

Two of the men were seated; on the left was an older man in a priest's outfit, currently flipping through a Bible that had seen better times; on the right, cleaning a gigantic gun, was a grotesquely over-muscled man in black leather pants and iron mask. The third man was leaning against a wall, and his entire body but for his eyes was hidden by silver Lycra. They were, respectively, Father Young, Ogre, and Hanzaki.

Inside of the cage, holding the bars for lack of a better option, was Laura Vesnic, the captive. Her attempts at getting information out of her captors had failed miserably, and so she just held onto the bars, scowling on occasion.

"So… have the bosses explained why we've gotta watch over the girl?" Ogre asked, reassembling the gun.

"All they said was to keep an eye on her and not do anything stupid," Hanzaki answered, lifting his fingers to his eyes as if looking over his nails. As his hands were fully encased in the same material as the rest of his body, this was fairly pointless. "Granted, if they didn't want something stupid, they would have sent you on another assignment."

"Watch it, shiny boy."

Shutting his Bible, Father Young looked to Hanzaki and asked, "How long will we have to watch over her?"

"The bosses didn't say. Degas hinted that she's pivotal for the last step, but I couldn't get any info out of him." Hanzaki's eyes narrowed. "That's unusually secretive for Degas. Alexander, I can understand, but Degas usually says more than that."

"Indeed," Father Young replied. "Sometimes I question what part Alexander plays in all this. From what I've seen, Degas does most of the work – he's the one who brought me into this."

"Me, too," Ogre said. "I was just a low-rent security guard when Degas picked me up. What about you, Hanzaki?"

After a moment's silence, Hanzaki said, "Both of them were responsible for my recruitment, actually."

"That's the first time Alexander's had a use that I know of," Ogre grumbled.

Father Young sighed. "Let's not spend all day criticizing our employers," he said. "There must be a reason why Alexander is one of them. For the time being, all we can do is stand guard over the girl."

"Exactly," Hanzaki said. "Now if you excuse me, I have business elsewhere. Our… other guests just left town for the night, and keeping an eye on _them_ is my job. Until then…"

He made a cryptic gesture and disappeared as the air blurred.

"So…" Laura said, leaning against the cage door. "Do I get time out of the cell for exercise?"

The answer was the sound of Ogre cocking the mammoth gun he was holding.

"'No' would have worked just as well," she muttered.

**0000000**

Out on the streets, the Pillar known as Viper walked along the road, hands behind his back. As he walked, he looked into the sky, smiling slightly as the stars began to come out.

Wherever Viper stepped, the ground cracked under his feet, and a cloud of pavement dust followed his footsteps.

A gust of wind caught his cape, and the Pillar's attention was caught with it as well. He turned, his eyes following his cape, and happened to look down an alleyway.

In the alleyway, a young man had the hood of his car (an '86 Corolla GTS) up and was busily working on the engine block. The man had short, feathered brown hair, and wore a white t-shirt and jeans.

Viper smiled and snuck up behind said young man, flexing the fingers on one hand.

After a moment, the man set his wrench down, hearing the sound of the concrete shattering behind him. "Huh?" he muttered. He then turned around…

…and one of Viper's hands caught him by the neck. The young man only struggled for a moment.

After that moment, the air flashed black around them and the marks of the Darkness Infection spread over the young man's hands and neck. He fell limp, and Viper dropped him.

One foot kicked the unconscious body out of the way, and Viper glanced over the car's engine. He touched it, and everything wrong with it repaired itself in a flash. "I've always had a… way with machines," he muttered under his breath.

With a wave of his hand, the door unlocked itself, and he opened it wide, sliding into the front seat. As he'd seen through the windshield, there was a Duel Disk (Model 6, the current generation) and a deck on the passenger seat.

He took out the deck and fanned it, looking over the cards. "Impressive," he muttered. "It could stand an improvement, though."

A card came into being between his index and middle fingers, and he slid it into the deck. "There we go."

By the time the newly-infected young man woke up, Viper was gone and the hood was down. None of that mattered now, however.

Climbing into the car, he concentrated on the image he now saw and drove off into the night.

**0000000**

It was about nine in the morning the next morning when a taxi pulled up in front of the St. Paul International Airport, discharging two passengers. One was Chad Montmelier, who'd switched decades and now dressed as Humphrey Bogart circa _The Big Sleep_. Behind him followed Gerald Laxina, who still looked like hell, still wore grey, and was still nursing a Styrofoam cup of coffee.

"Good lord, Gerald, still not sleeping at night?" Chad asked.

Gerald sighed. "It's the one time I can't sleep."

"So why are we back at the airport?"

"If we're going to do anything in this city," Gerald answered, "we'll need to start from somewhere. This seems like a decent enough hub."

Chad shrugged and asked, "Where do we start?"

With a sigh, Gerald sank onto a park bench. "As far as I can tell, we have two goals. One is to find Laura Vesnic, and the other is to readjust the Balance. I'm still not sure how to do the second…" He sipped his coffee. "So let's start with the first."

"And where do we start with that?" Chad prodded.

"I have absolutely no ideas," Gerald answered. "To be honest, I'm hoping for divine intervention."

_Not likely,_ a voice said in the back of his head. His brows furrowed, and he wrote it off as a strain of pessimism.

Stretching for a moment, Chad said, "We might as well start asking around. Come on." He then walked off.

Gerald let out a long, soul-emptying sigh. "I _hate_ footwork." He finished his coffee, tossed the cup in a trash can, and followed his friend.

**0000000**

After an hour, the two men had found exactly one person – the clerk at a coffee shop near the airport. Nobody else was even on the streets.

"How can a city of over 200,000 people be so dead?" Gerald asked the clerk in question while sitting at a table, sipping his latest cup of coffee. "There's nobody out here."

The clerk shrugged. "Far as I can tell, if people don't have a job to go to, they don't leave their homes," he said. "Frankly, if I didn't have this job, _I _wouldn't be here."

"And why not?" Chad asked.

"You know that creepy Darkness Infection, as the paper calls it?" the clerk replied. "Being out on the street is a good way to catch it. Being a duelist on the street – like you two – is an even better way. This city is empty but for the workers because of that – nobody in town wants to risk being the next with those weird black splotches."

Gerald thought for a moment, and then asked, "Tell me… what happens to people who are infected but aren't duelists?"

The clerk raised an eyebrow. "Odd question. Duelists stay conscious, but they wander off for… some reason. Non-duelists just pass out and go comatose. The hospital's full of them, and we can't seem to find a cure, but the Darkness Infection doesn't seem to do anything but knock them out."

Gerald and Chad looked to each other and nodded. Both were thinking the same thing: _We're what the duelists are after. We need to stay on guard._

"By the way… have you seen a girl with long red hair, green eyes, and a 'Don't touch me' attitude?" Gerald asked.

"Well…" the clerk said. "Actually, come to think of it… this guy who looked like a priest walked by here with a girl like that. She didn't look too happy to be with him. Not sure where they went, though…"

"Thanks," Chad said. He then turned to Gerald and said, "Hanzaki told the truth about her being here, at least."

"The first good news all morning," Gerald muttered, downing his coffee.

**0000000**

A few blocks away, the driver of an '86 Corolla GTS started his engine.

**0000000**

**  
**Somewhere in the city, Degas and Alexander sat in front of the array of mirrors, both of them taking their time with two large bowls of cereal. (They were late risers.) Half the mirrors were tuned to Gerald and Chad; the other half was tuned to the car.

"Viper has chosen a playmate for our guests," Alexander noted, setting his spoon back in his bowl for the time being. "One wonders what his taste in duelists is."

Degas set his bowl on the table beside his chair, leaning forward. "This one may have some potential," he muttered. "But we'll see whether or not that is the case soon enough. We have more… pressing issues."

Alexander sighed. "Hanzaki told me about that. Our servants are beginning to question me… The fools."

"Indeed," Degas said with a slight scowl. "Must they assume something is in the open to have a purpose? I am glad to see Father Young understands that to some extent, if nothing else."

With a quiet curse, Alexander resumed eating his cereal. "Enough of this. We will have time to reprimand them later. For now, let us enjoy the show."

Degas picked his cereal back up and said, "You are correct. If we are lucky, our problems will be moot; if not, we'll have some fun anyway…"

**0000000**

As Gerald and Chad made their way along the empty street, Gerald suddenly came to a stop.

Chad looked at him, and then stopped himself, confused. "Do you hear that?"

"Yes…" Gerald answered. "What is it?"

"Sounds familiar…"

Then Gerald snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes. It's the bass line to 'Cultured Bastard' by Acknowledgement."

"Oh, I hear it now!" Chad said. "I didn't recognize it at first. Doesn't sound that good by itself, doesn't it?"

"Well, John Cameron's vocals carry that song…" Gerald began.

_**MOVE!**_

The voice had come out of nowhere, and Gerald obeyed it, hurling himself to one side…

…just in time to avoid the incoming car. The car wheeled around and came back the other way. "Cultured Bastard" played on the radio.

For someone as lazy as he was, however, Gerald was _very_ light on his feet. He danced to one side just as the car came by for another pass.

Off to the side, Chad simply watched, puzzled as to why the car was only going after Gerald.

A moment's thought (all the time he had) told Gerald how to escape the situation. He set himself at a very specific angle.

The car wheeled around, came at him… and then slammed on the brakes just as Gerald moved aside.

Soon, Chad realized why. Gerald had positioned himself so that the car would run directly into a wall if it had kept going.

The car's door swung open, and its driver emerged, strapping on his Duel Disk. It was a man of about Gerald's age, with brown hair and the traditional "grease monkey" outfit of white t-shirt and jeans.

A quick glance at his hands and neck confirmed the Darkness Infection was raging in his system.

"Okay, so I couldn't run you over!" he said, activating the Duel Disk. "But I _will_ deal with you!"

Yawning, Gerald moved to a nearby bench and sat down, turning his Duel Disk on. "So be it," he said. "Chad, just find somewhere to sit for now."

Chad nodded, settling against a lamp post across the street.

"Care to introduce yourself?" Gerald asked the other duelist.

The other duelist grinned. "Call me Takumi Fujiwara," he answered. "I'm one of the best street racers in the Twin Cities, and I'm going to plow right through you before today is done."

"So, if I lose, I'm infected…" Gerald smirked. "But what if I win?"

Takumi thought for a moment, and then said, "See my car? Beat me and it's yours. But I'm not afraid, as you will _not_ beat me."

Gerald shrugged. "You can try. Let's duel."

"You're going down!" Takumi yelled. Both Life Point counters went to 8,000 points.

As the two duelists drew, Gerald leaned back against the park bench and said, "I think I'll take the first turn, if you don't mind…"

"Go right ahead," Takumi answered.

After a moment of looking at his opening hand, Gerald said, "I set one monster in Defense Mode and set two cards face-down. Your move."

Takumi drew, snorted, and said, "I summon Patroid in Attack Mode!"

A cartoon-style police car drove up from behind him and stood on its rear wheels, its headlights becoming eyes. (1,200/1,200)

"You know," he said as the monster appeared, "I usually don't like the cops. But this one has more important things to do with his time than shut down any street race he sees, so I'm pretty fond of him!

"Thanks to Patroid's special effect," Takumi continued, "I can see one of your face-down cards. So, Patroid… what does he have on the left?"

One of the car's front wheels sprouted a hand and stretched over to Gerald's field, picking up the card in question and lifting it just high enough to look under.

"A Magic Cylinder, huh?" the young man muttered. "Well, odds are good we couldn't hurt his monster anyway, so I'll just set this face-down and call that my turn."

Grimacing, Gerald drew his next card…

Takumi pressed a button on his Duel Disk, announcing, "Activate Penalty Game! I can only activate this card when you have four or more cards in your hand, and now I can choose to either take away your next Draw Phase or prevent you from playing Magic or Trap cards this turn. I choose the latter!"

_Well, there goes the Messenger of Peace for a turn…_ Gerald thought. "In that case, a change of plans is in order. I summon Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

The humanoid robot that looked like Jinzo's prototype rose into view from the street. (500/400)

"As you probably know, unless your bosses failed to brief you," Gerald added, "it can attack you directly. Jinzo #7, Cyber Glitch attack."

The robot charged up a ball of energy in its hand, and then tossed it at Takumi, hitting him in the stomach. His Life Points went to 7,500.

"I set one more card facedown," he finished, "and end my turn."

Drawing his next card, Takumi looked to Patroid and said, "So what did he just set?"

The police car extended its arm and lifted Gerald's latest face-down card, a Trap Hole.

"Oooh, tricky!" the duelist said. "But it won't help against _these_ guys. I summon the A-Team: Trap Disposal Unit in Attack Mode!"

Four little men in hard hats marched into place, carrying pickaxes and other tools. (300/400)

"Funny," Gerald said, "I don't see 'Howling Mad' Murdock anywhere…"

Chad looked closely at the four men. _I've seen monsters like those guys before. What were their names again? Aitsu and Koitsu or something like that?_

Gerald, meanwhile, frowned. _He's right about Trap Hole not helping, but… they're even weaker than Jinzo #7. He must have something else in mind._

Looking at his field, Takumi slid one card into his Duel Disk. "This goes facedown, and now, Patroid, attack Jinzo #7 with Police Whistle!"

Taking a whistle from nowhere, the Patroid blew it very hard, sending a wave of sound at the robot.

"I activate Magic Cylinder," Gerald said, pressing the button. "Your attack is now heading back at you."

"Nope," Takumi replied. "By Tributing the A-Team, I can negate and destroy a Trap Card you activate! Go, team!"

The four little men rushed up to the Magic Cylinder as it rose from Gerald's card. They threw ropes around it and dragged it down to their level, and then one of them took out a pickaxe. He hacked away at the side of the Cylinder until it began to glow white. The team members exchanged looks, and one of the others smacked his forehead…

…and then the Cylinder exploded, taking the team with it.

"I love it when a plan comes together!" Takumi yelled, rubbing his hands together. "Patroid, complete your attack!"

Nodding, the Patroid blew its whistle again, and the wave of sound tore the Jinzo #7 in half.

Gerald sighed as his Life Points moved to 7,300. He then pressed a button on his Duel Disk and said, "I activate Attack and Receive in response to that, dealing you 700 Life Points of damage because my Life Points took a hit."

The armored man leapt off of the activated trap and charged Takumi, ramming his sword through the young man's stomach. He grunted as his Life Points hit 6,800.

Once he was over the shock, Takumi shrugged and said, "That's my turn."

Taking a deep breath, Gerald drew his next card. He noted that he wouldn't have to worry about Penalty Game, as he only had three cards.

_Messenger of Peace is worthless for now, _he thought, _because his only monster for the moment would slide under it… as would most of the Vehicroids. Damn it. I hate decks that I can't slow down. Hmmm… this looks promising._

"I set this facedown," he said aloud, "and summon Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode."

A white rabbit appeared next to a large, pointed object. (700/500)

"As you may have guessed," Gerald added, "it can attack your Life Points directly as well. Do it, my Inaba White Rabbit."

The rabbit leapt on top of the object, which turned it into a ball of energy. Said ball spun behind Takumi and turned back into the rabbit, which kicked him in the spine. He gasped as his Life Points sank to 6,100.

"I end my turn," Gerald concluded, "and that causes Inaba White Rabbit to return to my hand, as it is a Spirit."

The Inaba White Rabbit turned to white sparks and flew back to Gerald's hand.

Takumi drew his next card and smirked. "I set this facedown," he stated, "and summon Cycloid in Attack Mode."

A bicycle wheeled itself into place next to Patroid and gave it a thumb's-up. The Patroid just shook its engine compartment. (800/1,000)

Chad snickered and said, "A bicycle? What's a street racer doing playing a bicycle?"

"We all have to start somewhere," Takumi said, glaring at Chad.

_Another monster my Trap Hole means nothing to?_ Gerald thought, his expression turning sour. _This is not my day… but then again, that means it's nothing to worry about for now, either._

"That's it for my turn," Takumi announced.

Gerald drew, studied his three cards, and thought, _All right. _"I start by playing Banner of Courage," he said, "which gives all my monsters 200 extra Attack Points while it's face-up on my field."

A banner unfurled itself on Gerald's field, its design a red flame framed by a blue crescent, with a purple arch underneath it, both on a field of red and white.

"Next," he said, "I summon the Inaba White Rabbit again…"

The rabbit emerged, standing patriotically under the banner. (700/500 – 900/500)

Gerald smiled, and then ordered, "Attack him, Inaba White Rabbit."

Takumi replied by hitting a button on his Duel Disk and shouting, "I activate Ballista Cannon! This negates a direct attack on my Life Points and deals you the damage I would have taken!"

As the rabbit teleported itself at Takumi, a cannon covered in Egyptian symbols rose into view and caught it. It then fired the energy back at Gerald, causing the rabbit to reform and kick him in the spine, nearly knocking him off the bench. His Life Points went to 6,400.

As he recovered, Gerald muttered, "I expected something like that, so I activate a second Attack and Receive, dealing you 700 points of damage plus another 300 for my first Attack and Receive in the Graveyard…"

"But thanks to this Barrel Behind the Door," Takumi answered, "that damage goes to you instead!"

The armored man sprang from Gerald's card and charged towards Takumi… only to skid to a halt when the Barrel Behind the Door sprouted in his face. He gulped, and then turned and charged Gerald, slashing him across the chest and sending his Life Points down to 5,400.

_What makes this all the more humiliating,_ Gerald thought as he caught his breath, _is that he's defeating me with my own maneuvers._ He glanced at his hands, which had developed the black marks of the Darkness Infection. _If I keep making mistakes like that, I won't be able to regret them. _"End turn," he said, picking up his Inaba White Rabbit.

Takumi smiled, drawing his next card. _That Trap Hole isn't a factor now!_ "I activate Bait Doll, forcing your Trap Hole to go off – it can't, so it's destroyed," he said.

As his Trap Hole shattered, Gerald swallowed hard.

"Next," Takumi said, "I summon Drilloid in Attack Mode!"

A wave of dirt filled the air as a smiling drill, with two drills for hands, climbed out of the hole and waved its arm threateningly. (1,600/1,600)

"Drilloid, attack his face-down monster!" Takumi ordered.

Both Gerald and Chad tilted their heads, not understanding what Takumi was up to…

…until the Island Turtle appeared on Gerald's field and was torn to pieces by the drills.

"Oh, my," Gerald mumbled.

Takumi grinned. "Drilloid automatically kills any Defense Mode monster it battles. It doesn't even bother with the Damage Step. Now, I believe your Life Points were in for a shellacking, correct? Patroid, Cycroid, get him!"

Patroid took out its whistle and blew hard, causing Gerald to grab his ears as his Life Points dropped to 4,200. He then let out a whoosh of air as Cycroid punched him in the stomach, his Life Points rolling along to 3,400.

As the Cycroid rolled back to Takumi's field, Gerald fell forward and off the bench, landing on his hands and knees. He took a few deep breaths, and then reached up and touched his neck. His spine went cold – he could feel the black marks of the Darkness Infection on them. _I have to pray for a turn-around now._

In all the time he'd known Gerald, Chad had never seen him in quite as desperate a situation as he was in right now. It was nearly as bad as the one Sol had put him in the day before. "Come on…" he whispered.

"That's my turn," Takumi said.

Grabbing hold of the bench, Gerald pulled himself back onto it, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. He then drew, glanced at the card he'd drawn, and played it, declaring, "Pot of Greed."

The lazy young man ignored the hologram entirely, instead drawing his two cards. He glanced between them and nodded. "Next," he said, "I play Messenger of Peace. This prevents monsters with more than 1,500 Attack Points from attacking me, but I must pay 100 Life Points a turn to keep it functioning."

The man in the white robe emerged, extending a hand to Takumi's monsters. The Drilloid gazed at him adoringly, but the Cycroid and Patroid would have sneered had they possessed mouths.

"I follow this by summoning the Amazon Archer in Attack Mode," Gerald went on.

A young, white-haired girl in a green sarong and top with a fur jacket stepped out of the card. She glared at the Messenger of Peace dismissively, and then took a bow and arrow off of her back. (1,400/1,000)

Suddenly, the archer looked to the Banner of Courage, and it made her stand up reverently… and then she bowed to the Messenger. (1,400/1,000 – 1,600/1,000)

Takumi laughed, leaning against the hood of his car. "You dip!" he exclaimed once he was done laughing. "Your Banner makes her too strong to attack with your Messenger of Peace out!"

"That's why I have Emergency Provisions," Gerald replied as he set the card down. "By giving up the Banner, I gain 1,000 Life Points."

A freakish maw emerged from the Emergency Provisions and bit the Banner of Courage in two. The Amazon Archer gulped, and then sneered at the Messenger of Peace as her power returned to its original level. The Messenger just sighed.

Meanwhile, Gerald was surrounded by an aura of light, raising his Life Points to 4,400. The black marks vanished from his neck in the process.

_Now that's strategy,_ Chad thought. _His Messenger of Peace will stop any monster strong enough to kill the Archer, but she's strong enough to deal with anything that could slip under it. And his direct-damage monsters are all weak enough to slip under the Messenger as well!_

Taking a deep breath, Gerald let out a long, slow sigh. "I hate having to attack monsters," he saidin discontent, "but I don't have a choice this time. Amazon Archer, attack Cycroid with Savage Arrow."

The girl grinned, took aim, and fired an arrow that struck the bicycle creature solidly in the eye. It fell over and shattered, and Takumi spat as his Life Points went to 5,500.

"With that," Gerald said, "I end my turn."

Takumi drew his next card and then grimaced. "What a wasted draw. I shift Patroid into Defense Mode and set one monster in Defense Mode as well." The Patroid turned back into an ordinary police car, and was joined by a hidden monster. "I can't do anything else."

As he drew, Gerald smiled. "A pity. This duel will be a remarkably short one, then. First, I pay 100 Life Points to maintain the Messenger of Peace…" His Life Points lowered to 4,300. "Next, I summon forth the Inaba White Rabbit again…"

Once more, the spire and its rabbit appeared.

"Amazon Archer, attack the Patroid with another Savage Arrow," Gerald ordered.

As he said it, the bow-wielding girl took aim at the police car. She fired one arrow into its hood... causing it to go up in a tremendous fireball.

Gerald and Chad just stared, until finally, Chad asked, "Sweet lord, what did she hit?"

"Either the gas or the nitrous, I guess!" Takumi said, just as surprised.

After blinking a few times, Gerald said, "Impressive… Inaba White Rabbit, attack his Life Points directly."

The rabbit teleported behind Takumi and kicked him in the back again, causing him to curse as his Life Points moved to 4,800.

"I end my turn," Gerald said, picking up the Inaba White Rabbit from his Disk as the turn ended and it came back to his hand.

Takumi drew again, and then smiled. "My luck might have just changed," he said. "I'll sacrifice my face-down Gyroid to bring out the UFOroid in Attack Mode!"

For a moment, an odd helicopter was visible, but it vanished and was replaced by a small, squat UFO with googly eyes. (1,200/1,200) It didn't even spare the Messenger of Peace a look.

Chad just stared, and finally asked, "Why the hell do you play a UFO?"

"It's my dream, when you get down to it," Takumi said, looking into the distance. "A Lancer Evolution can break 120 MPH if you trick it out right… but a UFO can snap the speed of light itself." He then shook his head and said, "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts for a moment. I'll end my turn."

_It's weak, it can't hurt the Archer, and it's in Attack Mode, _Gerald thought._ I'll be walking straight into a trap, but I don't have much choice._ He drew, declaring, "I pay 100 Life Points for the Messenger…" His Life Points sank to 4,200.

Looking at the card he'd just drawn, Gerald raised an eyebrow. _Took you a while._ "I summon Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode," he said.

The odd, snail-like creature emerged next to the Amazon Archer. (700/500)

To Chad's surprise, the Amazon Archer didn't react to the Servant with disgust. In fact, she actually smiled, as if greeting an old friend.

Gerald was just as surprised. _Amazons don't get along with other monsters in general… and you'd think she'd object to **that** one on aesthetic grounds. So why does she act so kind towards it?_ "Well," he finally said aloud, "Servant of Catabolism, attack Takumi's Life Points directly."

The Servant leapt over the UFOroid (not an easy feat, as the machine was hovering) and latched onto Takumi's face, its tendrils electrocuting him. Once it let go, the street racer collapsed, breathing hard. His Life Points moved to 4,100.

"Amazon Archer," Gerald said, and then paused. He considered the field, and then shrugged. "Take out the UFOroid."

Taking aim, the archer launched her arrow. It came down hard, smashing through the UFOroid and sending it to the ground, where it exploded in a ball of fire.

"Wow, it's Roswell all over again!" Chad murmured as Takumi's Life Points clicked to 3,900.

Even as the UFOroid died, Takumi searched through his deck, taking out a specific monster. "When UFOroid is destroyed, I can Special Summon one Machine-type monster with 1,500 Attack Points or less from my deck, so I'll exchange light speed for supersonic speed – I call on the Jetroid in Attack Mode!"

He set the card on his Disk, and a humanoid jet hovered onto his side of his field. (1,200/1,800)

"That's my turn," Gerald stated.

**0000000**

Degas and Alexander, watching from their mirror array, both scowled slightly.

"It seems Viper has poor taste in duelists, my friend," Alexander noted, hand on his chin. "This one is on the verge of defeat, and if what I know of his deck is any indication, that is not about to change."

Degas pondered for a moment, and then a ball of dark energy gathered on his hand. "You may have a point. Of course, we have a way to make things somewhat… better, if you get my meaning."

Spinning in his seat, Alexander raised one hand, hissing, "Not just yet. We might need that energy later – let's not go wasting our big tricks on street duelists…"

The energy dissipated, and Degas leaned back in his chair. "Good point. The Dancing Mad is only for emergencies, after all. And this, while unfortunate for our side, isn't quite an emergency…

"I'll trust Viper's judgment for now… but I hope for our sake he doesn't fail again."

There was a pause, and then Alexander said, "Remind me to get more Honey Nut Cheerios."

"Noted."

**0000000**

Takumi took a few deep breaths, and then drew his next card. He looked at it, smiled, and played it. "I play my own Pot of Greed!" he announced. He snapped the two cards off of the top of his Duel Disk, looked at them, and then grinned.

"Oh, I _hate_ it when they grin," Gerald muttered.

"I set one monster in Defense Mode, one card facedown, and that'll be it for me," Takumi stated.

As Gerald drew his next card, he thought, _I know what Jetroid can do – someone used it at the Regional Championship back in Maine. If I attack it, Takumi can set off any Trap Card in his hand – and since he only has one card, it has to be a Trap. As for his face-down card, I can't risk hitting a Flip Effect._ "I pay 100 Life Points for Messenger of Peace…" His Life Points moved to 4,100. "And then Servant of Catabolism will attack you directly once more."

Oozing under the Jetroid, the Servant of Catabolism leapt up and grabbed hold of Takumi's stomach, electrocuting him. He grunted, and his Life Points moved to 3,200.

"That ends my turn," Gerald said.

As Takumi drew, he didn't even bother looking at his card. Instead, he just slapped it onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Bokoichi, the Freightening Car in Attack Mode!" he called.

As he had declared, a small train car rose into play, unhitched to anything. (500/500)

"Next," he declared, "I activate my Trap Card, The League of Uniform Nomenclature!" The card's image was, frankly, scary – but then again, most normal people found the thought of three Ojama Yellows scary. "This lets me Special Summon as many copies of a Level 2 or less Normal Monster on my field as I can – and I choose Bokoichi!"

Two more train cars appeared next to it and his field became full.

Takumi's hand hovered over his face-down monster for a moment, and then he said, "Tell me, Gerald. Did you ever want to be a train conductor when you were a kid?"

"Didn't every boy?" Gerald answered. "But after my family started moving around, I decided to go after a job with less movement required."

"Well, I never quite gave up on that fantasy – which is part of the reason I play this guy. I Flip Summon Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive!"

There was a low chugging noise, and then a very disturbing-looking train pulled into view from Takumi's card. The Bokoichis hooked to it. (1,400/1,000)

"When I flip Dekoichi," Takumi added, "I draw a card. But for each Bokoichi, I draw _another_ card!"

The train and its three cars flipped up, and four cards sprang into Takumi's hand. The street racer studied his hand, and then smirked. "Next, I play Mystical Space Typhoon. The Messenger of Peace is done for."

A gust of wind threw the Messenger of Peace skyward, and he never came back down.

"And finally…" Takumi grinned, holding up one specific card. "Meet a card that the Vehicroids worship in secret, the strongest of the family."

"If it's Steam Gyroid, I'm not afraid," Gerald said, leaning back against the bench.

"That outdated piece of scrap? I don't think so," Takumi answered. "You see, when you race the streets, you hear stories… One I've heard is that if you go fast enough far enough, a black car shows up out of nowhere. You can't see the driver… but they say it's driven by Death himself. That car, it's said, will challenge you to a drag race. If you lose, that'll be the last race you ever run…"

Gerald yawned. "So?"

Setting a card on his Duel Disk, the racer glared. "I have to pave the way for it first. So I'll activate Thunder Crash, giving up all five monsters in exchange for 300 points of damage each to your Life Points."

A bolt of lightning swept through Takumi's monsters, destroying all of them, and then charged straight into Gerald, causing him to seize up as the electricity tensed every muscle in his body at once. He collapsed, his Life Points sinking to 2,600.

"And now, by removing two Machine-type monsters in my Graveyard from the game…" Takumi held up two Bokoichis. "I can bring out the most feared of all vehicles… behold, Gerald, as I Special Summon the Black Car of the Reaper!"

The air around the two duelists suddenly went black, as everything between them briefly disappeared. It became too dark to see, and Gerald began to wonder if his Duel Disk had malfunctioned.

And then he saw something… a pair of headlights. They came closer and closer… and then the most elegant car he'd ever seen came into being. It was pure black – even the windshield was blacked out, except for one square. A black-gloved hand held the steering wheel.

That wasn't the truly disturbing fact about the car, though. What really made it disturbing was the sheer aura of wrongness issuing from it. (2,400/1,300)

"So, Gerald," Takumi said, "what do you think of the Black Car of the Reaper?"

"I've seen scarier."

Cursing, Takumi ordered, "Black Car of the Reaper, attack Servant of Catabolism with Hell Drive!"

The car roared to life, and then seemed to disappear into the shadows. Suddenly, it appeared next to the Servant of Catabolism, and an arm reached out of the window as it drove by. The arm passed through the Servant, taking an insubstantial version of the monster – which Gerald soon realized was its soul.

The Black Car of the Reaper vanished again, leaving the body of the Servant of Catabolism behind. Soon, the body shattered, and the car returned to Takumi's field.

Gerald blinked twice, and then checked his Duel Disk to make sure that what had just happened had just happened. It had, indeed – his Life Point counter now read 900.

Out of curiosity, the lazy duelist turned his Duel Disk over and found a reflective spot. To his dismay, the veins in his eyes had turned black.

_Oh, man,_ Chad thought as he watched the duel. _Come on, Gerald… This poser can't defeat you, can he?_

"Man, I haven't felt this good since the last time I broke 100 MPH on the freeway!" Takumi said, laughing. "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

As Gerald drew his next card, he glanced to the Amazon Archer. What he saw was confusing.

The Archer looked to where the Servant of Catabolism had once stood, and then to the Black Car of the Reaper. She looked back and then forth… and then shed a tear, holding onto her face with one hand. After a moment, she wiped the tear away and hefted her bow, aiming it straight at Takumi.

"Dude… is your Duel Disk supposed to do that?" Takumi asked.

"I don't think so," Gerald answered, thinking, _What was it about that Servant of Catabolism that set off my holograms like that?_ "I set a card facedown, switch my Amazon Archer to Defense Mode, and summon the Inaba White Rabbit once again." The rabbit appeared once more, looking fairly angry. "Attack him, Rabbit."

"I've held onto this card since I got the Jetroid!" Takumi said, grinning. "Go, Mirror Force!"

The rabbit attempted to teleport, but hit the mirror… which proceeded to disperse it across the field.

Narrowing his eyes, Gerald set one last card on his Duel Disk, saying, "I end my turn with Dian Keto the Cure Master, giving me back 1,000 Life Points."

A golden aura surrounded Gerald, raising his Life Points to 1,900, and he sighed in relief as the veins in his eyes turned red again.

Even as Takumi drew, he said, "That face-down card is Gravity Bind, isn't it?"

Gerald looked nonplussed.

"Well, here's a warning for you – the Black Car of the Reaper is so fast that an opponent's card effects can't prevent its attack!" Takumi laughed. "That means your Gravity Bind will do nothing! But first, I summon Steamroid in Attack Mode!"

A cartoony version of Dekoichi huffed into play, lifting itself onto its hind wheels. (1,800/1,800)

"Black Car of the Reaper," the street racer ordered, "attack Amazon Archer with Hell Drive!"

As the Black Car drove to claim the Archer's soul, Gerald pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Activate Widespread Ruin."

Before the car could touch the Amazon Archer, it exploded into a massive fireball. Takumi simply stared as a hubcap rolled past him.

"How unexpected," Gerald said. "Who would have thought the Grim Reaper drove a Ford Pinto?"

After a moment to recollect his thoughts, the street racer declared, "You don't have any traps now, though, so Steamroid, attack with Wheel of Steel!"

As it charged forward, the Steamroid's attack rose to 2,300. This was overkill, as the punch from its wheel was more than powerful enough to obliterate the Amazon Archer.

"That's my turn," Takumi declared.

Snapping the next card off of his Duel Disk, Gerald set it into place. "One card facedown, and then I activate Scapegoats," he said.

The four doomed goats trotted out, smiling blissfully. (0/0 x4)

"That's all I can do," Gerald added.

As Takumi drew, he muttered, "That _has_ to be Gravity Bind… But it won't help against this! I summon another Gyroid, in Attack Mode!"

A goofy-looking helicopter buzzed into view. (1,000/1,000)

"Get those Scapegoats, Gyroid and Steamroid!" Takumi yelled.

Sighing, Gerald hit the button for his face-down card. "Did you really think all I could set was Gravity Bind? Obviously, going faster than 70 MPH on a regular basis is not good for your mental health. Activate Mirror Force."

The mirror popped out of nowhere, and both of Takumi's monsters ran straight into it. The force of impact was enough to reduce them to ashes.

"Ummm…" Takumi lowered his head. "I end my turn."

With one more draw, Gerald smiled and said, "This duel is over. I play Premature Burial, which for 800 Life Points…" His counter lowered to 1,100. "…allows me to bring back one of my monsters from the Graveyard. I choose Amazon Archer."

A circle of red light burned on Gerald's field, and then the Amazon Archer appeared in it, scowling.

"Now, Amazon Archer, attack him directly with Savage Arrow," Gerald ordered, letting out a long, drawn-out yawn at the end.

The Amazon Archer took aim, and fired directly into Takumi's chest, causing him to gasp as his Life Points went to 1,800.

As he ended his Battle Phase, Gerald said, "I'll now finish you off. First, I sacrifice two of my Scapegoats…" Two of the goats vanished. "And in exchange, Amazon Archer can fire a special arrow, costing you 1,200 Life Points."

Pulling a silver arrow from her quiver, the archer fired it into Takumi's heart, dropping his Life Points to 600.

"I… still live…" Takumi muttered.

"No," Gerald answered. "Because I can use that ability more than once a turn. Goodbye."

The other two Scapegoats vanished, and the archer fired a second silver arrow into Takumi's heart. His Life Points struck zero.

Even as the arrow hit home, Gerald was asleep on the bench.

**0000000**

"Scratch that one," Degas muttered, setting his finished bowl of cereal on the table. Both the bowl and the table vanished.

Alexander shrugged. "He got closer to victory than any of our other puppets to date. Viper's choice wasn't the worst he could make."

"Point taken. But he still failed… I hope Viper succeeds with his other project, for his own sake."

"He should," Alexander said. He then smiled. "Interesting to see what effect the Darkness Infection had on Mr. Fujiwara. No street racer would give away their car unless they were truly out of their mind…"

Degas nodded. "Indeed. Viper's variant of the infection has qualities we were not expecting."

Before Degas could say anything more, Alexander lifted a hand, eyes shut. He then said, "Viper has infected someone else… someone who feels _very_ interesting. I can't get any details, though."

"Hanzaki!" Degas yelled.

When the teleporting servant arrived, he looked very… odd. He'd traded in the silver Lycra for a red body suit, with leather bands crossing his chest, and his eyes appeared sewn shut. His left index finger hovered over his mouth as if perpetually shushing someone, and his right hand waved constantly.

"Master," Hanzaki said. "We're in a tight spot!"

"I don't appreciate the joke, Hanzaki," Degas growled. "Now knock it off and tell us what Viper's latest choice is."

There was a flash, and the bondage outfit was replaced with the usual silver. "Fine," Hanzaki muttered.

Several minutes passed, during which Degas and Alexander grew more and more enthusiastic.

Finally, Alexander looked to Degas, nodded, and said, "Go to our new friend and tell him to wait here…" He handed Hanzaki a slip of paper.

"Should I tell Gerald and Chad?" Hanzaki asked.

"No," Degas answered. "They should have a little time to rest before their next duel. We'll tell you when. Now get to it."

Hanzaki nodded, and then suddenly flashed back into the bondage outfit before declaring, "In the name of Harmon…" The air blurred, and he was gone.

"I hate it when he does that impression…" Degas growled.

**0000000**

Back on the streets of St. Paul, Gerald woke up a moment after his duel with Takumi, yawning. A glance confirmed that the street racer was out of commission, and that the Darkness Infection had cleared up on his body.

With a push off the bench, Gerald got up and dragged Takumi onto said bench. He then turned to Chad, who moved off of the lamp post.

"Do you think we can really take the poor guy's car?" Chad asked.

Gerald shrugged. "A bet's a bet. Besides, if he wants it back later, we'll give it to him." He then slid into the passenger seat.

"Why do I have to drive again?" Chad asked as he slid into the driver's seat.

"I don't have a license. It's too much hassle to go back to the DMV every year."

"Sometimes your laziness is so overwhelming that it's scary." Chad started the car. "Where to next?"

Gerald thought for a second, and then answered, "It's probably best to start with the major landmarks – the Darkness seems to have an ego. Perhaps the capitol building?"

Chad nodded and hit the gas. The Corolla GTS drove off towards the center of town.

**0000000**

Elsewhere in town, the man known as Viper unfolded a map and set it against a wall, running his finger along it.

"So if I'm here," he muttered under his breath, "and Summit Hill is over _here_, then I have to go… cripes, I'm horrible with directions." He then looked closer. "I'm holding this thing wrong."

He turned the map in a different direction and then exclaimed, "Ah-hah! I'm _in_ the Summit Hill neighborhood! The target is just down the street!"

It took more time to refold the map than it did to go where he was planning to go.

**BALLISTA CANNON**

Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: An ancient, golden cannon covered with hieroglyphics.

Effect: You can activate this Trap when an opponent attempts a direct attack. Negate the attack, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the attacking Monster's ATK.

_Note: This card was originally used by Imhotep in Brian Corvello's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Mandate of Heaven". All creative credit goes to him._

**BLACK CAR OF THE REAPER**

Type: Effect Monster

Statistics: Dark/Machine/6/2400/1300/Effect

Image: A long black car, the driver of which cannot be seen, making its way through the night.

Effect: This monster cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This monster can only be Special Summoned from your hand by removing two Machine-type monsters in your Graveyard from the game. This monster's attacks cannot be prevented by any of your opponent's card effects.

_Brownie points if you guess whom Hanzaki is impersonating._

_Coming next chapter: The Darkness makes a major leap forward with their plan, but Gerald and Chad have no time to worry about that. After all, Chad is locked in a life-or-death struggle with a duelist whose strategy is a puzzle of many pieces. And this duelist has one of the most powerful weapons the Darkness can muster! Behold the first Card of Night in Chapter Seven, "Splintered Minds"! Fans of jkBAKURA's "Lady of Dragons", you won't want to miss this one!_


	8. Splintered Minds

_**Few things are truly scarier than madness. When you're insane, you have no control over what you do – you're at the mercy of the chaos in your mind.**_

_**But some say that to go mad is the truest freedom – that once you're freed from the order and rules of the sane mind, you can finally think with absolute clarity, and perceive things as they truly are.**_

_**Personally, I don't feel that abandoning rational thought is the best way to achieve enlightenment, but that's just me. However, as an artist, I will admit that inspiration does require me to step outside of my sanity now and then… but only temporarily.**_

_**  
Now, however, I'm facing someone who claims he's doing this in order to keep his sanity in one piece. And from the way he's acting, I'll admit he needs all the self-control he can get.**_

_**But couldn't he have just gone into therapy rather than risk our necks on this?**_

**Chapter Seven: Splintered Minds**

It was about a quarter after noon when Gerald Laxina sat on the steps of the St. Paul capitol building. He took a breath, slid his hands out of his pockets, and said, "Something tells me that the Darkness doesn't actually care about human politics."

"What was your first clue?" Chad asked, currently searching the building's exterior.

"I believe that would have to be when we pulled up to it at 11:30 in the morning on a weekday and absolutely no one was here."

And indeed, the building was utterly deserted. The only car in the parking lot was Gerald and Chad's Corolla.

Sighing, Gerald leaned back on the steps, eyes shutting. A snore came from him after a moment.

Chad could do nothing but stare. Even with the back of his head on the edge of a step and his body stretched over several more, Gerald had somehow managed to fall asleep. That was dedication to the craft.

**0000000**

On the streets of St. Paul, a fireball was tracing a line of footprints, apparently smashed into the very surface of the roadway. All around the footprints were shattered buildings, each of which looked as though a wrecking ball had smashed into their exteriors.

After a few minutes, the fireball came to a stop and flared up, turning at last into Lucifer Allumette. He looked to where the path of footprints stopped, and then shut his eyes, trying to feel something.

When he found it, the shock caused him to stumble backwards. "Oh, no," he muttered, in the odd talking-across-dimension manner he used to contact the forces of Dreams. "Ze Darkness is not following what we had believed to be zeir plan before zis point. Ze are playing for keeps… My next move will be to find Monsieurs Laxina and Montmelier and contact them concerning ze Darkness's plan."

He paused.

"Hopefully, ze Light will be able to fill in the blanks with a vision beforehand, but as I'm not sure what ze Reciprocal is at zis point, I should not rely on it." Lucifer sighed. "Ze rules are frustrating on days like zis. Allumette out."

Turning on one heel, Lucifer got a running start and then leapt, becoming a ball of fire again and launching himself into the sky.

A moment later, a man who was covered from head to toe in Lycra stepped out, cell phone to where his ear presumably was.

"Yeah, the Dreams agent just left," Hanzaki muttered into the phone. "My best guess is he's off to go tell Gerald about what Viper's up to. Bad luck that the rules keep us from just blackjacking him and dumping him in a pond… What's that? All right, I'll give Caiside the word and then send Gerald his way. I'm out."

After hanging up, Hanzaki disappeared amid a blur in the air.

**0000000**

Several seconds later, Chad was just about to kick Gerald awake when the air blurred and Hanzaki stepped out, hands in the air. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," the silver-clad man said.

Gerald awoke with a start, which caused him to slip and bounce down several steps. There was a pause, and then he groaned and moved onto his feet. "Up until then, it was a good afternoon," he said, shooting Hanzaki a look.

"Well, I'm not the one who advised you to sleep on a flight of stairs," Hanzaki pointed out. "Either way, I'm here on business. Degas and Alexander request that you pay a visit to a certain location. They assure you it will be worth your while."

Chad crossed his arms. "Give me one good reason why we should do anything those two ask us," he said, trying his best to impersonate Humphrey Bogart. Sadly, his clothes remained the only real connection between the two.

Hanzaki replied, "If you do so, you'll know how to find Laura."

"We're in, then," Gerald said before Chad could say anything.

"Gerald, are you sure?" Chad asked him at that point.

"Let's face it, Chad – we have no idea where to even start looking. At least this will give us a starting point. Yes, it's walking into a trap, but the bait should be worth it."

The artist let out a sigh, adjusting his fedora. "You're right, I suppose."

"Excellent," Hanzaki said. "I'm not allowed to just tell you the location, but this should be of assistance." He dropped a photograph on the ground, bowed, and then disappeared with the usual air blur.

Gerald rose to his feet, and the two men walked up to the photograph.

Chad picked it up, and one eyebrow rose. "A spoon with a cherry on it?" he said. "Not much of a hint."

"I've seen that before…" Gerald said in disagreement. "It's a fountain called Spoonbridge and Cherry… and it's the heart of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. That's the destination."

The two men headed back to their car, but before they got there, something caught the artist's eye. _Is that a Duel Monsters card on the ground there?_ He walked over and picked it up. _Huh. Someone must have dropped it. Say… I think Joey Wheeler's used this one before…_

He tucked it into his deck, and then slid behind the driver's seat.

**0000000**

Two forces watched the events in the Twin Cities from far beyond the known world, both unable to act directly on them.

One force thought, _The path continues on, but soon it shall grow rocky._

The other thought, _Soon, we shall bring an end to the path._

**0000000**

As with everything else that wasn't a service job, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden was utterly deserted. The Corolla pulled to a halt in an otherwise empty parking lot, and the two duelists stepped out of it.

"Be on your guard," Chad warned. "Degas and Alexander invited us here, so you just know something's up."

"I'm not oblivious to the obvious, Chad," Gerald said. "For example, I can see the unconscious people draped over the sculptures even from here."

Indeed, several unfortunates were slung over various pieces of art in the garden. Every one of them showed signs of the Darkness Infection, raising the question of what had infected them.

"Come on," Gerald said. "Whatever did this is probably waiting for us at Spoonbridge and Cherry."

The two men proceeded up to the centerpiece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which appeared at first to be left alone. And then…

…and then a very unusual man ran in from their left, sprang through the air, and landed in a three-point position on the "arm" of the spoon.

The man had two different colors in his hair – the left side was green, the right side blue. His left eye was blue and the right eye was green, and he had an odd scar circling one eye and ending at his chin. All he wore was a pair of blue jeans; his skin was swarthy, and he was disturbingly thin, with his ribs visible. One arm bore a Duel Disk. As usual, he showed the signs of the Darkness Infection; however, his lack of a shirt revealed a new one – a series of black marks across the torso.

Looking down at the two, the man sniggered. "Do you like my additions to the garden?" he asked.

"Mind telling us your name?" Gerald asked.

"They call me Caiside Bahn," he said. "Half Irish and half Arabic, but with a touch of oddity of my own design. I'd love to chat, but I'm afraid you have to be crushed for my own sake."

Chad's eyebrow raised. "Your… own sake?"

Both of Caiside's eyes – green and blue – narrowed. "My father went mad when he was thirty. So did my grandfather on his side, and his father before him… the list is a long one. I'm twenty-seven now, and in three years my number is up. But if I defeat you, the curse of madness will be lifted from my bloodline."

"You do realize that the Darkness is lying through its teeth, right?" Gerald asked.

Caiside nodded. "I intend to attack them until they make good on their promise once I'm done here. By the way… if you try to leave without dueling me, everyone you saw lying on the statues will die."

The lazier of the two men put his head in his hand. "You're up, Chad," he said.

Chad sighed, activating his Duel Disk. "Fine, then. I'll challenge you."

"It's go time!" Caiside said as his own Duel Disk flared to life. Both Life Point counters shot to 8,000.

Gerald slumped to the ground and just watched.

**0000000**

As always, Degas and Alexander took their places in front of the mirror array, watching the duel as it began.

"Montmelier is up again," Alexander noted. "Do the opponents he defeats count for the purposes of the Reciprocal?"

"All those on the side of the Light count," Degas answered. "If he wins, that's another one for their side."

The man in green smiled. "Ah, well. Win or lose, we're satisfied…"

**0000000**

Reaching into his pocket, Caiside withdrew a coin. "Heads or tails, Mr. Montmelier?" he asked.

"Heads," Chad answered.

Caiside snapped his arm upwards, and the coin spiraled overhead. It landed on his outstretched palm, and he bent his wrist towards Chad.

Gerald and Chad sighed simultaneously. It was a tails.

"I'll make the first move," Caiside declared, drawing his opening hand. He looked over his cards, and then said, "I'll begin with Dark Blade in Attack Mode."

A warrior in black armor stepped forward, raising twin swords. His face was concealed in shadows. (1,800/1,500)

Caiside continued, "I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn for now."

As Chad drew his first card, he pondered what his opponent's strategy might be. _A Warrior… wait, I've heard about Dark Blade before. What was its secret again?_ "I set a monster in Defense Mode and a card face-down. Your move, Caiside."

Fanning his cards out, Caiside studied his hand, and then said, "I play the Continuous Magic Card known as Frontline Base!"

As he did, Spoonbridge and Cherry vanished, covered by a hologram of a small fort. Various figures could be seen prowling around within it.

"Next," he continued, "I invoke its effect. Once during my Main Phase, I may make a Special Summon of a Level Four or less Union Monster. Come forth, Pitch-Black Dragon!"

The doors of the base opened, and a small black dragon walked out, snorting smoke. (900/600)

_Union?_ Chad thought. _Oh, damn, now I remember Dark Blade's secret!_

Caiside grinned, his different-colored eyes shining. "Now do you get it? Union monsters can function like Equip Magic Cards for other monsters. In Pitch-Black Dragon's case, it can hook to Dark Blade. So do it! Pitch-Black Dragon and Dark Blade, become the Pitch-Black Dragon Rider!"

With one mighty leap, the Dark Blade landed on the dragon's back, grabbing a pair of reins that flashed into view and reining it in. (1,800/1,500 - 2,200/1,900)

"Pitch-Black Dragon Rider, the union of Dark Blade and Pitch-Black Dragon, gains 400 Attack and Defense Points," Caiside explained. "In addition, it deals damage through Defense. Pitch-Black Dragon Rider, attack with Pitch-Black Breath!"

The Dark Blade stood up and gestured with his sword. In response, the dragon inhaled and breathed a cloud of noxious gas at Chad's face-down monster.

"Activate Ring of Destruction!" Chad declared, activating the face-down card on his field. "This destroys your Pitch-Black Dragon Rider and hits us both for its Attack Points in damage!"

"I respond with my Trap Jammer," Caiside replied. "This negates that little trap of yours."

A ring covered in grenades flew around the dragon's neck, but then a mysterious seal struck the bottom of the ring. The ring shattered, and the cloud of gas previously exhaled struck Chad's Soul Tiger. (0/2,100) The tiger coughed and collapsed.

Chad turned pale as his Life Points went to 7,900.

"That settles my turn," his opponent finished.

After a few deep breaths, Chad drew his next card. _Okay,_ he thought. _Union monsters can be very powerful, but Caiside almost emptied his hand just playing one. Unless he has a way to refresh it every turn or so, I can deal with what he can pull together. Especially because of the **other** weakness of Union monsters…_

Aloud, he said, "I summon Chiron the Mage in Attack Mode!"

The card appeared for a moment, and then the armored centaur galloped out, staff at the ready. He glared at Caiside with a palpable hatred. (1,800/1,000)

"Next," Chad continued, "I activate Chiron's effect – I simply pitch a Magic Card, and in return he destroys one Magic or Trap card on your field." He slid Dark Hole into his Graveyard. "Unless I'm mistaken, Union Monsters turn into Equip Magic when their effects go off, so say goodbye to Pitch-Black Dragon!"

Caiside narrowed his eyes and ran one hand through the green half of his hair.

The image of Dark Hole appeared in Chiron's staff, and then he swung it at the Pitch-Black Dragon Rider. Gulping, the Dark Blade leapt off of his mount, which exploded in a rain of triangles. (2,200/1,900 - 1,800/1,500)

After another glance to his hand, Chad said, "I set this face-down and end my turn."

With a hiss, Caiside drew his next card… and then he smiled. "Did you know that Dark Blade has two Union options?" he said. "You've seen one, now meet the other. First, I use Frontline Base to call out a monster named Des Dendle in Attack Mode!"

A small bunch of weeds sprouted at Caiside's feet. (300/2,000)

Chad just stared. "Are you trying to tell me Dark Blade can Union with that patch of crabgrass?" he asked.

"Not even close," Caiside answered. "But to summon his other Union option, I have to make an offering. So I'll sacrifice Des Dendle and bring out Kiryu in Attack Mode!"

The weeds shattered, replaced by a massive dragon. It was over ten feet long, with needle-like teeth filling its mouth, and it had giant wings. (2,000/1,500)

Caiside grinned, saying, "You can see where this is going, I take it. Dark Blade! Kiryu! Union into Hyperspeed Dragon Rider!"

Once more, Dark Blade leapt into the air, this time landing on his feet on the Kiryu's back. (1,800/1,500 – 2,700/2,400)

There was a moment's pause, as Caiside glanced to the one card in his hand. _Where's Combination Attack when it would be perfect?_ "I _could_ do in your Chiron and deal 900 points of damage to you," he said aloud, "but I can do even more simply by doing in my Kiryu."

"How so?" Chad asked.

Gerald answered the question for Caiside: "By tributing it while it's equipped to Dark Blade, he can have Dark Blade attack you directly."

"Thank you," Caiside said. "You heard the man, Kiryu. Kamikaze Hyper Strike him _now!_"

The Kiryu rose into the sky, and then suddenly moved so fast that no man's eyes could follow it. After a moment, it vanished with a sonic boom…

…and then Dark Blade fell out of the sky, sword-first. It landed on Chad, impaling him through the chest and knocking the artist to the ground, sending his Life Points down to 6,100.

The attack complete, Dark Blade returned to Caiside's field, and he said, "My turn ends here."

Taking a deep breath, Chad looked to his hands and sighed. The marks of the Darkness Infection were already present. He drew, and then smiled. "Shouldn't have done that, Caiside; in order to get your hit on me, you took away Dark Blade's power boost. Now I'll capitalize on that by summoning Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode!"

The eyeless, deranged beast padded up to Chiron's side, snarling. (1,900/1,400)

"Mad Dog of Darkness," Chad ordered, "attack Dark Blade!"

The dog barked twice and charged at the swordsman, fangs bared.

In response, Caiside tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "Activate Roll Out! This trap lets me bring a Union Monster back from the Graveyard and equip it to an appropriate monster. I'll bring back Kiryu and form the Hyperspeed Dragon Rider once more!"

The red-scaled, whip-like dragon emerged underneath Dark Blade, who laughed evilly at the Mad Dog of Darkness. (1,800/1,500 – 2,700/2,400) The Mad Dog tried to flee, but the air blurred, and it shattered to pieces.

Chad's jaw dropped as his Life Points descended to 5,300. He shook his head, took a card from his hand, and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Caiside drew and snorted, playing the card. "I activate Graceful Charity." He drew three cards, pitching a Vampire Orchis and Shadow of Eyes. "Now I summon Decayed Commander, in Attack Mode."

A long-dead swordsman rose up from the ground, dressed in samurai armor and bearing a wakazashi at his side. He glared from under his helmet. (1,000/1,500)

"When the Decayed Commander is summoned," Caiside continued, "I can call out his pet, the Zombie Tiger, as a Special Summon. Here, kitty, kitty!"

A mummified tiger padded up to the Commander's side, causing the zombie to smile. (1,400/1,600)

"And now…" Caiside snapped his fingers. "Union, Decayed Commander and Zombie Tiger! Become the Zombie Patrol Unit!"

The Zombie Tiger rubbed its head against the Decayed Commander's legs, and the Decayed Commander reached down, finding and holding a chain hidden amidst the bandages. (1,000/1,500 – 1,500/2,000)

Chad braced himself, one finger on his Duel Disk.

Caiside nodded to the Hyperspeed Dragon Rider. "Kamikaze Hyper Strike him again!"

Once again, the dragon took to the skies and moved faster than the eye could follow. It disappeared, the Dark Blade plummeted down sword-first… and smacked hard into an invisible barrier.

Chad held up his trap card. "Negate Attack slowed him down in a hurry," he said.

With a sigh, Caiside held up his empty hand. "I can't do anything else, so this turn is over."

Nodding, Chad drew and held up his next card. "I summon Berserk Gorilla in Attack Mode!"

A rampaging, fire-snorting gorilla moved up alongside Chiron the Mage, who prudently stepped out of its way. (2,000/1,000)

"Berserk Gorilla," Chad ordered, "crush the Dark Blade!"

With a roar, the gorilla charged forth and punched the Dark Blade in the head. Its neck snapped with a gruesome crack.

Gerald winced.

Caiside merely smiled as his Life Points slid to 7,800.

One of Chad's eyebrows rose, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he continued, "Chiron the Mage, destroy the Zombie Patrol Unit!"

Chiron took aim with his staff and let off a blast of lightning. It struck the Zombie Patrol Unit… but the Zombie Tiger threw itself in front of the Decayed Commander and took the entirety of the blast.

As his Life Points lowered to 7,500, Caiside grinned wide. "When a Union Monster is about to go down in battle," he explained, "the equipped monster takes the hit instead." He then giggled for a straight minute.

_Okay, he's lost it,_ Chad thought. "I set this face-down…" The artist slid his last card into the disk, leaving his hand empty. "…and that's it for my turn."

Caiside snapped the top card off of his deck, glanced at it, and tossed it on the Duel Disk. "Pot of Avarice," he said simply. "I shuffle five monsters into my deck and draw two cards."

Kiryu, a Pitch-Black Dragon, Vampire Orchis, Des Dendle, and Zombie Tiger flew into the strange man's deck, and he drew two cards.

"Now…" He glanced at his hand, and then reached down to his disk. "I switch Decayed Commander to Defense Mode." The armored zombie knelt. "Now I summon Doitsu by the effect of Frontline Base!"

A small yellow man floated down to the field on a paper airplane, sipping a cup of tea. (100/200)

Chad's eyes went wide. _Now this is a Union Monster I've heard of before. When he's summoned one…_

"Now I play Swords of Revealing Light!" Caiside continued.

_I guess he didn't **draw** the other one._ The artist took his head in his hand and sighed.

A rain of glowing swords came down between the duelists, sealing off any attacks.

"I can't do a damned thing, so it's your turn now," the infected duelist concluded.

Chad drew and groaned. _In any other situation, I'd be praying for the Gyaku-Gire Panda. Right now… _"I pass," he said.

The Darkness Infected drew, uttered a curse in a language Gerald thought sounded vaguely Arabic, and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I'll set that facedown and end my turn."

"This may get tedious," Gerald muttered quietly from his spot at the side.

Staring at his two pinned monsters, Chad drew again, looking to his card. "I play Poison Fangs," he said, "which adds 500 Life Points to any damage you take from a Beast-type monster. And then I end my turn."

"Boring, isn't this?" Caiside said as he drew a card. He then looked at it and grinned. "Of course, this should make it more fun. I play Pot of Greed!" He drew two cards and laughed.

_He drew it!_ Chad thought.

"I summon the mighty Soitsu!" Caiside declared, slamming the card onto his Duel Disk.

A little green man floated down on a paper airplane, flexing his nonexistent muscles. (0/0)

Gerald chuckled slightly, saying, "You call it mighty? There are mightier hamsters." He then saw that Chad had gone pale. "Ummm… Chad? What's the problem?"

"Soitsu and Doitsu Union, Gerald," was all that Chad said.

Gerald himself went pale.

"That they do," Caiside agreed. "And so they will. Soitsu? Doitsu? Union for me."

The two men took each other's hands and merged together, their pliable bodies becoming one mass of plasma. This mass expanded, forming into a gigantic yellow and green figure, shaped roughly as a man. (0/0 – 2,500/0)

"Behold my friend Soitsu-Doitsu," Caiside finished. "Union monsters are so much _fun_, aren't they?"

Gerald answered, "I'll just say that if your monsters were toys, they'd be recalled before a week was out."

"Ah, well…" Caiside then pointed to Chiron the Mage. "Kill that thing, Soitsu-Doitsu – use Gokujyo Power."

Soitsu-Doitsu raised its arm high above its head, and then brought it down like a whip. The arm stretched and crushed Chiron underneath its mass.

His Life Points at 4,600, Chad took a few deep breaths, looking at his field. _Curse my luck – in the excitement, I forgot about my face-down card. Fat lot of good it'll do now…_

"I end my turn with one card facedown," Caiside said.

Chad drew, noting, "This is the last turn for the Swords of Revealing Light." And so it was; the swords were fading away. "In the interim, I summon Gyaku-Gire Panda in Attack Mode."

Pandas were normally adorable, delicate creatures, but something about snarling like it had a grudge against all living things and carrying a giant bamboo stick made this one decidedly less so. (800/1,400)

"For every monster you have in play," Chad added, "my panda gains 500 Attack Points. That means for your two, it gains 1,000 Attack Points altogether."

Looking at Caiside's monsters, the panda growled, slamming its bamboo on the ground. (800/1,400 – 1,800/1,400)

"I end my turn with that," Chad said. The final Swords of Revealing Light disappeared.

As the Darkness Infected drew, he shut his eyes and took a breath. "Had to clear the mind," he explained afterward. He then ordered, "Soitsu-Doitsu, attack the Berserk Gorilla with Gokujyo Power!"

Again, the bizarre man raised its arm to attack…

"Activate Sakuretsu Armor!" Chad declared, triggering his trap. "This destroys your attacking monster!"

In a panic, Caiside activated his own trap. "Activate Formation Union, splitting Soitsu and Doitsu back to their component selves! Now Doitsu will survive in Attack Mode!"

The Soitsu-Doitsu creature split in two, back into the Soitsu and Doitsu. The Soitsu glowed brightly and exploded into a thousand pieces, confusing the Doitsu to no end.

Muttering under his breath, Caiside glanced at the card in his hand, set it into his Duel Disk, and said, "With this face-down, I end my turn."

Chad drew and activated his face-down card, saying, "I'll destroy your face-down card with Mystical Space Typhoon."

Caiside swallowed hard as his Trap Hole shattered.

"Next," Chad continued, "I summon Enraged Battle Ox in Attack Mode."

The furious minotaur strode out, waving its axe about and glaring at the Darkness Infected. (1,700/1,000)

Whimpering, the Darkness Infected crouched on the Spoonbridge and Cherry, trying to hide amid the hologram of the Frontline Base.

"Let's see," Chad began. "All three of my monsters now have the ability to strike your Life Points through Defense Mode monsters; in addition, Poison Fangs amplifies the damage from my two Beast-types. You have one monster with 1,500 Defense Points and one monster with one hundred Attack Points. To do you the most damage, I'll have to be precise about this." He paused, giving it some thought.

_No matter how he does this,_ Gerald thought, _Caiside is in for a rough stretch._

Chad finally ordered, "I think I'll start with Gyaku-Gire Panda. Panda, attack Doitsu with Bamboo Smash!"

With a growl, the furious panda stormed up and slammed Doitsu over the head with its bamboo stick, flattening the little man and shattering it. Caiside's Life Points plummeted to 5,800, and then to 5,300 as the Poison Fangs glowed.

"Next," Chad ordered now, "Enraged Battle Ox, destroy the Decayed Commander!"

The minotaur sprang skyward and brought its axe down hard on the Decayed Commander. It shattered the zombie's sword and cleaved in its head.

Caiside dared to look at his Life Point meter, which now read 4,800.

Taking a long, drawn-out breath, Chad began, "Berserk Gorilla…"

"In the name of all that's holy, spare me!" Caiside yelled.

"Can't afford to," Chad said, a hint of apology in his tone. "Either way, Berserk Gorilla, attack him directly!"

The Gorilla roared and charged the Frontline Base, punching in the doors. It grabbed Caiside by the throat, lifted the duelist into the air, and hurled him into the water, hooting wildly.

Both Gerald and Chad watched unblinkingly. Finally, Gerald said, "Holograms are so violent these days, aren't they?"

"I know parents who won't let their children watch duels," Chad answered.

Caiside pulled himself slowly back onto the statue, badly bruised and dripping. His Life Points dove first to 2,800, and then to 2,300 as the Poison Fangs glowed again.

"I set this face-down," Chad said, "and end my turn. And unless I'm mistaken, you won't last a great deal longer at this rate."

**0000000**

"Can't Viper pick anyone with a _hope_ at victory?" Degas growled, his fingernails digging into the arms of his chair. "First Takumi comes close and trips on the last hurdle, and now Caiside is about to fail us as well! I can't help but think Viper has a taste for the mediocre…"

Alexander sighed, rubbing his temple. "I would argue with you," he said, "but the more of this I watch, the more I question the quality of our servants. For now, it seems that Gerald and Chad will be moving on to whatever else they have due them today…"

Suddenly, a ball of dark energy floated up from the floor. Both men looked at it curiously, and then Degas said, "The Dancing Mad?"

"What is it doing here?" Alexander asked.

The ball fluxed, and then a piece separated itself from the whole, flying off and vanishing through the ceiling.

Both men looked to each other. Finally, Alexander said, "How odd. It has decided on its own to aid Caiside."

Degas leaned back into his chair, a foul smile on his lips. "If that is the case… Caiside may not be quite as weak as we were led to believe. So, which form has it sent out?"

Alexander took the orb into his hands and examined it. "Its namesake." He then chuckled. "The Darkness loves irony…"

**0000000**

Knowing the next draw could be his last, Caiside drew his card, breathing heavily. He then looked at it… and laughed.

The laugh rang about him as he stood up and took a few jigging steps along the Spoonbridge and Cherry. It carried on as he threw his arms back, taking in the sunlight.

Finally, Chad demanded, "What's so amusing about your latest card?"

"Simply that I daresay I've won the game," Caiside answered. "First, I play Card of Demise, which lets me draw five cards, assuming I discard any I have left in my hand after five turns."

He drew five cards, and then laughed once more. This laugh was shorter, but none the less threatening for it.

"Now," Caiside said, his composure returned, "I set three cards facedown, and play Emergency Provisions, sending all three to the Graveyard and gaining 3,000 Life Points for it."

An odd mouth flashed from Emergency Provisions, snapping up a second Frontline Base, a Shadow of Eyes, and a Combination Attack. A glow of light surrounded Caiside, raising his Life Points to 5,300.

_Well… that was a lot of overture and little show…_ Gerald thought. _Unless his last card is a game-winner, this duel may as well end now._

"So…" Chad asked. "How will that win you the game?"

"That won't," Caiside answered. "This next card will. You see, it's a special brand of card known as a Card of Night."

Chad arched an eyebrow. "That's not a real card type."

"It is now," Caiside answered. "It's a manifestation of Darkness, usable only by Darkness Infected, Pillars of Darkness, Degas, and Alexander. If anyone else tried to use one, their hearts would explode from sheer power overload."

"Eew," Chad muttered.

"Eew indeed. But since I fit the bill, I can play them. And this one is mine! I play **_Dancing Mad!_**"

He set the card into his Duel Disk, and the world turned into a kaleidoscope around them.

**0000000**

The resulting waves of dark energy pulsed through the city, striking a fireball as it passed overhead. The fireball spiraled into the ground and landed in a small park, sending up a blaze that took out several trees.

When the flames died down, Lucifer Allumette held his head in one hand, groaning. "What in the name of the Dreaming was _zat_?" he muttered.

After a moment, he sensed the Darkness and gasped. "No! Zey have unleashed a Card of Night! I never zought zey would grant one to anyzing less zan a Pillar!"

Lucifer tried to get back on his feet, but collapsed as a pulse of illness rushed through him; the Darkness had done more than he'd thought to his body. "May the Light save you, Montmelier," he whispered.

**0000000**

"What the hell does Dancing Mad do?" Chad asked as his pulse rate spiked.

Caiside explained: "First, I count the number of cards in my Graveyard." He did so. "I have fifteen. So by removing fifteen cards from my deck and sending them out of play, I can shuffle my Graveyard back into my deck."

All around the two duelists, the air turned purple. Fifteen cards vanished from the Darkness Infected's deck, and he took the remainder and his Graveyard and shuffled them together.

"That barely leaves you with a deck, though," Chad noted.

"Oh, did you think that was all Dancing Mad did?" Caiside asked. "You're a fool, then. After that effect resolves I can pay 1,000 Life Points. If I do so – and I will – then I get to shuffle all my cards removed from play back into my deck."

Chad and Gerald simultaneously gasped.

Caiside's Life Points went down to 4,300, and there was a flash of light from his Duel Disk as his deck was fully restored.

Chad stammered for a moment, and then said, "You… you must be joking! Nothing is that cheap! There _has_ to be another price!"

Caiside shrugged. "Oh, there is. You see, Dancing Mad removes itself from play after the card-restoration effect resolves, so it doesn't return itself. And now, if I happen to lose this duel, my mind will be destroyed. Dancing Mad is more than just a name – I'm dancing on the edge of madness just _playing_ the card." He then grinned. "But for a deck reboot like this, it's all worth it."

"Damn it…" the artist said, inching back. "Your hand is empty, though…"

"One more thing," the Darkness Infected said. "Dancing Mad's last effect lets me draw five cards."

"Damn it!" Chad fell to his knees and punched the ground.

Fanning out his new hand, Caiside took a card. The Dancing Mad's chaotic world shifted colors to green. "I summon Protective Soul Ailin in Attack Mode, using the effect of my Frontline Base…"

A little pink angel descended over their heads. (0/0)

"And for my regular summon," he continued, "I summon the Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei."

A burly warrior with the feet of a dog stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. He looked bored. (2,300/0)

Gerald felt an odd kinship with the fighter, but couldn't understand why.

"Now I Union Lei Lei and Ailin," Caiside went on. "Come together, you two."

Ailin settled on the Indomitable Fighter's shoulders, smiling.

Having gotten himself under control, Chad noted, "She doesn't seem to do much for him."

"But she will," Caiside elaborated. "Normally, Lei Lei switches to Defense Mode after he attacks – but with Ailin inspiring him, he can fight off that laziness and switch back to Attack Mode. Now, Lei Lei, attack the Berserk Gorilla with Unstoppable Force!"

The fighter, Ailin on his shoulder, charged forward and slugged the gorilla in the gut. It grunted, and then shattered around his fist. That done, he tried to sleep… but Ailin shook him, and the fighter stayed awake.

Chad blinked twice, watching his own Life Points change to 4,300. In the space of one turn, he'd gone from the lead to a tie.

"I set this facedown," Caiside finished, "and my turn is over."

Swallowing hard, Chad drew his next card. "I set one monster in Defense Mode…"

"Activate Shadow of Eyes," Caiside interrupted as he triggered his trap, "which will force your monster into Attack Mode and cancel any Flip Effects!"

The Dancing Mad turned pink, and Chad's Des Kangaroo rose to its feet, making a few practice jabs. (1,500/1,700)

Growling, Chad continued, "I switch Enraged Battle Ox and Gyaku-Gire Panda into Defense Mode and end my turn."

Caiside drew, held up his card, and said, "It's time for Graceful Charity to make a comeback!" He drew his cards and discarded, and then said, "I'll unequip Protective Soul Ailin from Lei Lei…"

The angel floated off the fighter's shoulder, and he slouched in response.

"Next," Caiside continued, "I play Monster Reborn, bringing back a monster I discarded. Behold Aitsu!"

The familiar symbol of resurrection shone overhead. A small paper airplane flew from it and landed in front of Caiside, and a tiny red man poked his head out. (100/100)

Chad began to sweat.

"And now, I sacrifice both Lei Lei and Ailin…" Caiside drew it out, grinning widely. "…to summon Koitsu."

Both monsters shattered, and another paper airplane landed, this one with a small blue man in it. (200/100)

Gerald leaned forward, catching onto what the monsters could do.

Caiside smiled. "Now watch closely, Mr. Montmelier. This duel is about to come to a close. I Union Aitsu and Koitsu, and in doing so create Aitsu-Koitsu!"

Much like Soitsu and Doitsu before them, Aitsu and Koitsu clasped hands and merged together into one mass, this one slightly purple in color. The mass soon expanded, revealing a towering figure, at least twenty feet in height and striped in red and blue. (100/100 – 3,100/100)

"Oh, my," Gerald muttered.

"And the best part?" Caiside said. "It doesn't treat Defense Mode any differently than Attack Mode. Aitsu-Koitsu, attack the Enraged Battle Ox!"

The giant cracked its knuckles and picked up the Enraged Battle Ox, crushing it in its grip.

Chad muttered a profanity under his breath, his Life Points sinking to 2,200. He could feel the Darkness Infection develop on his neck.

"That will be it," Caiside finished. "But remember, you can't hold off Aitsu-Koitsu's attacks. All I need is to attack once or twice more and your Life Points will be zero."

"We'll… see…" Taking a deep breath, the artist thought, _He's right. I have to stop that monstrosity on this turn or the duel's finished._ He drew…

**0000000**

Degas and Alexander had set up a mirror array in the room where Father Young and Ogre were guarding Laura, and they were watching the duel between Chad and Caiside.

Seeing the expression on Chad's face as he drew, Father Young said, "Ten dollars says that Caiside's finished."

"You're on," Ogre replied.

Laura ceased her pacing and glanced at the mirrors, a bit of hope in her eyes.

**0000000**

Chad let out a sigh of relief and slid the card into his Duel Disk. "I play my own Pot of Greed," he said.

As he drew the two cards, Caiside giggled slightly, the Dancing Mad's effects turning the world around them gray.

"Now I summon the king of my deck, a monster I haven't even drawn before…" Chad held up the card. "I sacrifice Des Kangaroo and Gyaku-Gire Panda to summon Behemoth the King of All Animals in Attack Mode!"

The two lesser beasts bowed deeply before they shattered and disappeared. In their place came a massive creature, with the body shape of a bear and the horns of a bull. It had a light-pink hide and purple hair forming a pelt on its back. Saliva dripped from its many-fanged maw.

The creature roared, and suddenly Caiside wasn't so sure of himself. (2,700/1,500)

Looking at its stats, Caiside exhaled, not quite as worried now. "Worthless," he said. "It's simply 400 Attack Points too weak to threaten my Aitsu-Koitsu."

Chad shrugged. "I still get its effect, which lets me return a number of Beast-type monsters equal to the number of monsters I gave up for it to my hand." He took two of them. "I now set one card facedown and end my turn."

"And so it's over," Caiside said, drawing a card. "I set this monster in Defense Mode… and now, my Aitsu-Koitsu, destroy the Behemoth!"

But even as the figure approached to slay Chad's monster, the artist shouted, "Ever see one of Joey Wheeler's duels? Then you'll be familiar with _this!_ Activate Graceful Dice!"

A tiny, teddy-bear-like figure in suit and top hat flew into the air, holding a blue six-sided die.

"Why are you playing that card?" Caiside asked, his stomach lurching.

Chad replied, "I just figured I might need it. You know how it works – the die rolls, and the Attack and Defense Points of my monster increase by the result times 100 until the end of my next turn. Less than four and I'll submit; four and both of our monsters bite it; better than four and I'm in the money. Let's roll!"

The figure threw its die into the air, and it landed on the ground, a three showing…

…and then bounced, showing a four…

…and finally came to earth with the six up. Behemoth roared at the top of its lungs, a blue light shining over its body. (2,700/1,500 – 3,300/2,100)

Caiside slumped to his knees, pounding his head on Spoonbridge and Cherry.

Aitsu-Koitsu tried to grab Behemoth's head, in order to break its neck, but was promptly gutted with one swipe of the beast's claw. It grabbed its stomach, collapsed, and shattered into a hundred pieces, leaving only Aitsu behind.

Caiside's Life Points shifted first to 4,100, and then to 3,600 due to the forgotten Poison Fangs. "End turn," the Darkness Infected said between hits of his head on the statue.

Chad drew and smirked. "I summon the Enraged Battle Ox again."

The minotaur returned, bowing to Behemoth as he emerged. (1,700/1,000)

"Enraged Battle Ox, destroy Aitsu!" Chad ordered.

Eager to comply, the bull-headed creature charged forward and swung its axe, cleaving the little man in half. Caiside's Life Points dove to 2,000, but he didn't move from his crouched position.

"Behemoth," Chad now commanded, "destroy his face-down monster! Thanks to my Enraged Battle Ox, your Life Points aren't safe…"

The King of All Animals trotted over and stamped on the face-down Des Dendle, crushing it. Now Caiside's Life Points sank first to 700, and then to 200.

Gerald yawned and began to doze on the sidelines.

"That's my turn," Chad concluded. "Any last words?"

It was a moment before Caiside even raised his head. Slowly, he got to his feet, an unearthly light in his already-disturbing eyes.

"This duel… not over…" he said, the Dancing Mad already claiming its price. "Never… over. Draw…" He did so. "Set... one card… facedown. End… turn."

Chad sighed. "Not only are you going mad, you're talking like William Shatner," he said. He drew and tossed his card on his Duel Disk: "Heavy Storm."

Grabbing his head, Caiside screamed in what sounded like two voices at once.

The storm tore through Caiside's Mirror Force and Chad's Poison Fangs, leaving nothing but Chad's monsters after the wind stopped.

After a moment, Chad sighed. "I'm sorry, but you left little choice. Finish him, Enraged Battle Ox."

The minotaur strode up and swung the axe once into Caiside's gut. The maddened man looked at it, grinned, and then fell off of the statue, making a splash as he hit the water. His Life Points struck zero.

The Dancing Mad disappeared as the holograms shut down, and a chaotic laugh echoed on the wind. A small ball of darkness flew away…

**0000000**

"Pay up," said Father Young.

Grumbling, Ogre took out his wallet and fished out a ten-dollar bill, growling, "I thought gambling was a sin."

"Only on occasion, my child."

**0000000**

The ball of darkness merged once again with the Dancing Mad, and Degas sank it back into the floor. "If he couldn't win with that card on his side, he deserves the madness," the man in black muttered.

"Still, he made a good effort," Alexander noted. "And it isn't like it matters. His purpose, after all, is to lure Gerald to our real death-blow."

"Exactly." Degas waved one hand, and the mirror array changed its focus from the unconscious Caiside to another location, elsewhere in St. Paul. "I see Viper is almost ready to act."

"About time," Alexander muttered. "It took him two days to get into position."

The man in green then sent a psychic message: _Now._

**0000000**

Gerald awoke a moment later, stretching as he rose to his feet. Chad had dragged Caiside out of the fountain and was checking on him.

"So where'd you get Graceful Dice?" the lazy young man asked as he drifted over to his friend.

Chad shrugged. "Someone dropped it near the capitol building. Their loss is my gain."

Gerald nodded, and then winced as a sudden pain spiked through his head.

"Vision incoming?" Chad asked.

His friend was barely able to nod before it was upon him.

**0000000**

_A key fell through the air…_

…_and landed in the outstretched hand of a giant man in a metal mask – Ogre, Gerald thought. The man looked at the key and tossed it through the air._

_The key landed in the hand of a man clad all in silver – Hanzaki. He spun the key on his finger and threw it away._

_  
This time, a man in a silver jumpsuit and cape caught it. He snickered and dropped the key into his pocket, all the while humming a fairly primitive tune. _

The vision jumped backward, from the man to Hanzaki to Ogre, and then jumped back once more to a barred cell, within which was a red-haired girl. Gerald had only seen her once, but he knew it was Laura.

_The key slid into the lock of her cell door._

_The vision panned upwards, and he could see the building where she was kept. It looked just like all the others… but a symbol was painted on the wall. It matched a symbol he had once seen on Hanzaki's chest._

_And then the vision went dead._

**0000000**

It was several minutes before Gerald recovered. Chad was still standing by him. "Welcome back," the tall artist said.

"Thanks," Gerald said before relating what he'd seen in the vision.

Chad listened, and then said, "So that last guy's got the key, and all we need to do is defeat him to get our hands on it and free Laura. Remind me why we're so interested in her, by the way…"

"Because otherwise the word 'Kanlon' will irk me until the day I die," Gerald replied. "In addition, it will strike the Darkness a hard blow, and that can never be bad."

"Good point."

Over their heads, a ball of fire began to descend. Since both were expecting something like that, they simply moved back and let it land between them. The fire flared up, and Lucifer bowed politely. "I congratulate you once again, Monsieur Montmelier," he said. "You have managed to defeat a Card of Night. Few duelists, even zose blessed by ze Light, could stand against one."

"So was he telling the truth about what it does to non-Darkness users?" Chad asked.

"Sadly, yes. If you happen to steal one from ze hand or deck of a Darkness Infected, do _not_ play it. Ze consequences would be tragic."

Both Gerald and Chad briefly looked disgusted. Gerald then recovered and said, "It couldn't hurt any worse than the visions I keep having. Why do I get those, anyway?"

"Hmmm?" Lucifer looked confused. "Ah, you do not know about ze Reciprocal. Ze Light may only send you visions if a certain amount of Darkness is defeated first. Each time you or an ally or yours defeats a Darkness Infected or another servant of Darkness, ze Light moves a step closer to fulfilling zat contract. Ze exact number depends on what zey wish to tell you."

Chad gave it some thought. "So if we need advice, our best bet is to hunt out and defeat Darkness Infected," he finally said.

Lucifer nodded, and then looked up. "Did anyone else hear a loud cracking noise?"

Gerald and Chad looked to him, and then shook their heads.

The next sound, however, all three heard – as well as everyone else in the Twin Cities area. It was a massive, echoing explosion.

Once the noise died, Lucifer looked around in confusion… and then his expression turned to utter horror. "Oh, by the Divine, no…"

"What's wrong?" Gerald asked.

Lucifer grabbed him and shouted, "We have to go to ze Cathedral of St. Paul, and quickly! Otherwise, ze city may be finished!"

"But why?"

"Ze Pillar has just invaded it!"

**0000000**

Several minutes before, the Pillar of Darkness known as Viper made his way down the street in the Summit Hill district of St. Paul. He had finally reached his destination, the Cathedral of St. Paul. Already, he could hear the voices of hundreds of people – those who had dared to leave their homes with the Darkness Infection on the rise – praying to their god for salvation.

He tried to take another step forward, but a large white barrier suddenly stood in his way. The Cathedral of St. Paul was a major bastion of the Light, and a person as steeped in Darkness as he was couldn't even get close.

Viper merely smirked, and then drew in his power. The street around him began to crack and crumble.

He then raised his arms, and the street all around him shattered. And then Viper gave the barrier one hard punch.

Energy rippled out over the barrier of Light, a series of black lines extending from the point of impact and arcing out over the barrier.

Viper threw another punch, and the black lines became cracks in the barrier.

His third punch shattered the barrier of Light, sending a noise akin to a massive explosion rolling over the Twin Cities. The pieces faded away, and the Cathedral of St. Paul was left helpless.

Without another word, Viper strolled up to the door of the cathedral and waved his hand. A black wave poured over the building, and over all those within it.

One by one, those gathered in prayer collapsed to the ground, their prayers cutting off in mid-word.

Viper walked calmly to the center of the building, his footsteps no longer punching holes in the ground, and relaxed slightly. "Such a beautiful place," he said softly. "The Light didn't deserve to hog something like this. It's ours now."

He chuckled to himself.

**CARD OF DEMISE**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: An executioner about to chop several cards in two with a guillotine.

Effect: Draw five cards from your deck. On the fifth turn after this card is played, discard your hand to the Graveyard.

_Note: This card was first used by Kaiba in the original series episode, "Clash in the Coliseum". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**DANCING MAD  
**Type: Normal Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A bizarre man with a white-painted face and a colorful outfit dancing on a floating piece of earth as lightning tears the world apart beneath him.

Effect: Count the number of cards in your Graveyard, remove that many cards off the top of your deck from play, and shuffle your Graveyard back into your deck. After that effect has resolved, you may pay 1,000 Life Points. If you do, shuffle all cards you own that are removed from play back into your deck, and then draw five cards from your deck. Regardless of which effects are activated, this card is removed from play after all other effects resolve. If you lose the current duel after this card is activated, you will be driven insane.

**New Card Type: Card of Night**

Cards of Night aren't real cards in the sense of being printed by Industrial Illusions. They are, in fact, pure dark energy sealed into a physical form and altered enough for Duel Disks to read them. Because of the high amount of dark energy within one, they may only be played safely by Darkness Infected, Pillars of Darkness, or others with an attunement to the Darkness. Anyone else who attempts to play one will die instantly, their hearts exploding as the darkness floods their body.

The Darkness specializes in things bought at too high a cost, and the Cards of Night are a perfect example of this. While they often have effects just short of breaking the game, every Card of Night has a physical or mental cost that affects the player in real life; sometimes the cost can be avoided by winning the duel, but other times it's instantly paid. (For "Dancing Mad", it was madness.) In addition, anyone foolish enough to play two Cards of Night in a single duel incurs a different penalty: if defeated after such a duel, they die. (The Card of Night "Image Sealer" is the one exception - it may be played with another Card of Night without incurring the risk of death.)

Whereas other created cards in this story may be used with the permission of their creators, Cards of Night may not. They and their type are unique to this story.

_Coming next chapter: Gerald is drawn into battle with one of the most dangerous duelists he could ever hope to face. His Direct Damage deck is forced to square off against an entire armada of powerful monsters, and the Darkness itself is on the side of his opponent. Can even the intervention of a higher power save the laziest duelist alive? The answers are coming in Chapter Eight, "Nemesis"…_


	9. Nemesis

_Before we even begin: dramatic license has been taken with the effect of the card "Boss Rush" in this chapter. You don't have to tell me about it._

_**I… I'm really not sure what to say…**_

_**This entire time, I've faced down the Darkness and never thought twice about it. But that was just a façade of Darkness over ordinary people. I hadn't fought the real thing yet. **_

Now I'm battling a true servant of the dark power that's invading this city, and I'm not sure if I stand a chance. He's crushing every plan I have to fight back, and he's got weapons I can't hope to match. I never thought a deck based on a famous video game could be so brutally effective.

_**There's nothing in my deck that can even match what he has out. All my defenses are gone.**_

_**  
Please… someone, anyone… help me…**_

**Chapter Eight: Nemesis**

Three people sat in the '86 Corolla GTS as it roared down the road, headed back to the city of St. Paul. Chad was driving, Lucifer was pensively staring out the front passenger window, and Gerald was sitting in the back, looking through his deck.

"Can't zis thing go any faster?" Lucifer asked, looking to the rings on his right hand. "Ze Ring of Alarms is burning my finger – zat means ze situation is dire!"

"How can a ring burn your finger when there's no heat source?" Gerald asked.

Despite himself, Lucifer chuckled. "Zese _chiots_ are not just for looks, Monsieur Laxina – zey are artifacts of Dreams. Each one has its own power. Ze Ring of Alarms grows hotter depending on ze danger of the current scenario – I can sense very subtle fluctuations in temperature, so it works well. If it burns my finger, zings are very bad indeed."

"So why is the Darkness invading the Cathedral particularly bad?" Chad asked.

The agent of Dreams sighed. "Ze Cathedral of St. Paul is one of ze most important bastions of Light in ze entire city. All those within it are protected from ze Darkness Infection, and any Darkness Infected who passes through ze zreshold is instantly cured. If ze Darkness claims it, zen zey have robbed us of a major foothold in holding zem back, and zey know zis. We must prevent zat by all means at our disposal!"

"Understood," Gerald said.

They entered the Summit Hill district shortly afterward.

**0000000**

Neither Degas nor Alexander felt like sitting down this time. Both stood in front of the mirror array, watching the Corolla move ever closer to the church.

"Here we go," Degas said. "For the first time, our plans near fruition. This is the time for Gerald to prove he's more than just a random pick of the Light."

Alexander nodded, adding, "But even if the Light was serious about him, the Pillar will reduce him to nothing. We have absolutely nothing to fear with this duel, nothing at all…"

"The Light may try to aid him."

"Given the Card of Night in our Pillar's deck, the Light's aid means nothing."

**0000000**

Before the Corolla could even get near the church, Chad slammed on the brakes. Gerald slammed into the seat in front of him, and Lucifer grabbed the windshield to keep from hitting it. "What was that for?" Gerald asked.

Chad was sweating badly. "Something's wrong," he said. "I can't bring myself to drive any closer to the Cathedral. It just doesn't feel right…"

Opening his door, Lucifer slid out, shivering slightly. "Zere is a powerful aura of Darkness here," he said. "I do not blame you for not wanting to get close. Fear not, however – I have a way to take care of it." He held up his right hand, and one of his rings began to glow. "Ring of Purity, guard us from zis dark and evil presence."

A bubble of red light emerged from the crystal on Lucifer's finger, and Gerald and Chad left the car, moving up to him. "How odd," Gerald noted. "I feel quite comfortable now…"

"No wonder," Lucifer said. "Ze Ring of Purity isolates us from dark and shadow energy. However, I cannot make it large enough to surround ze entire car, so we must walk."

Gerald sighed, and they began to walk towards the Cathedral.

**0000000**

The path leading up to the Cathedral of St. Paul was shattered and broken, something that screamed "bad sign". Gerald tried not to pay too much attention to it.

When they actually reached the building, all three men gasped – the entire building was shining with a black light. "We are too late," Lucifer whispered. "Ze Darkness has claimed ze Cathedral…" He lowered his head. "All we can hope to do now is to save an innocent or two from whoever invaded it. Onward."

The three stepped into the building, and the bubble of light around them began to warp inward. "What's going on?" Chad asked.

"My best guess: there's so much Darkness in here that even Lucifer's ring can't hold it back." Gerald looked around. "Definitely not a place I'd want to visit."

The inside of the Cathedral looked like a tornado had hit it. The pews were broken, and various unpleasant graffiti was scattered about. The floor was strewn with unconscious people, all of whom exhibited the signs of Darkness Infection.

As they moved deeper into the wreckage, the sound of someone humming filled the air. Gerald lifted his head. "I've heard that before…"

"Hmmm?" Chad asked.

"I heard that voice in my vision… and that tune. Hold it…" His eyes widened. "That's 'Introductory Flight' from the video game Gradius…"

A figure then descended from the ceiling, arms crossed over his chest. The man was a colossus – shorter, slightly, than Gerald, but with a much more powerful figure. He had long, blonde hair that danced around his shoulders, and wore futuristic silver armor, complete with a red-lined cape. He grinned as he touched the ground.

"Welcome to the new base of the Darkness," the man said. "Did you enjoy seeing my alterations?"

Lucifer grimaced, holding onto his right hand. From the smoke, it appeared the Ring of Alarms was searing into him.

"Who are you?" Chad asked as Gerald readied his deck.

The man swept an arm out in front of him and bowed. "I am one of the four most powerful servants of Degas and Alexander, one of the Pillars. I am the Pillar of Destruction, Viper – Jean-Vic Viper, to be precise."

"A Pillar!" Lucifer whispered, taking a step back. "I should have guessed!"

Gerald couldn't repress a laugh. "Jean-Vic Viper? As in Vic Viper, the ship from Gradius? Are you a nerd or what?"

Jean-Vic's eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand. The ground shook underneath them, throwing the three men to the ground. "Do not insult me. I could smite you without even trying. And to answer your question…" He regained his composure, smiling. "I do admire that game, yes. It may be the greatest game ever invented, and so I took it as my name. Given that my original name was Jean l'Idiot-Ne, it was an upgrade."

"Does that mean…" Chad began.

Lucifer snickered and confirmed, "It means 'Jean the Born Idiot'."

Another earthquake struck, knocking them down again. "Silence!" Jean-Vic yelled. "Either way, this church is now in the hands of the Darkness. The only way to save it and free those trapped by its dark energy is to defeat me in a Dark Duel!"

Gerald got to his feet, dusted off, and said, "All right, then. Let's begin."

"Gerald, no!" Lucifer yelled, only to be struck down by a small tremor right under his feet.

Jean-Vic nodded to Gerald and said, "Let us go outside."

**0000000**

In the room where the Darkness held Laura captive, Father Young and Ogre watched the duel on their own mirror array, Laura staring at the mirrors from within her cell.

"All right!" Ogre said. "I've looked forward to this for over a year! The Pillars are unstoppable when it comes to duels!"

Father Young replied, "As much as I mistrust the power of the Light, I feel I have to agree. No matter how powerful Gerald may be, he is walking to his demise."

Laura said nothing, only thinking, _Come on, Gerald. Who else is going to get me out of here if you go down?_

**0000000**

Once all four men were outside, Jean-Vic lifted his hands and said, "I think we should move to a more appropriate battleground." He and Gerald began to slowly rise off the ground, moving towards the top of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Down below, Chad and Lucifer could do nothing but watch.

The two men settled a fair distance from each other, obsidian platforms coming into being beneath their feet.

"So… you're the Pillar of Destruction," Gerald said. "What does that mean, precisely?"

Jean-Vic said calmly, "There are four facets to evil – Destruction, Terror, Chaos, and Death. I embody the first of the four. As such, the Darkness in my body is purer than any Darkness Infected could ever possibly be. I am not merely a tool for the Darkness; I am its vessel, its weapon. My mere touch can infect a human, and when you lose this duel, nothing will be able to break the hold the Darkness will have on you."

Gerald merely shrugged. "And if I win, the Darkness is out one of its strongest weapons, the Cathedral returns to the hands of the Light, hundreds of innocent people are saved, and I turn you into a massive joke."

"That requires that you win first," Jean-Vic replied.

"Indeed." Gerald activated his Duel Disk.

In response, Jean-Vic waved his right hand over his left arm. The armor on that arm came to life, extending a metallic fin-like platform. Another notch opened in the armor on top of the arm, into which the Pillar slid his deck. A digital readout came into being next to it.

Gerald whistled. "Impressive…"

Jean-Vic nodded, and then snapped his fingers. "Let the Dark Duel begin!" he shouted.

A circle flared to life around them, within which glowed a series of lines. The circle and the lines all turned black, and they continued to hover around them.

"Dark Duel?" Gerald asked.

"Essentially identical to a normal duel," Jean-Vic explained, "except for the stakes and the power of Images. And before you ask…"

He paused, took a deep breath, and began: "In the times of the early Shadow Games, sorcerers were able to draw forth their _ka_, their inner selves, as weapons to utilize against their opponents. In Dark Duels, Shadow Duels, Dream Duels, and Duels of Light, this power is given a new form – the Image.

"You may have heard of the Deck Master system, a duel variant used in last year's Monster Island Tournament Finals. An Image bears some resemblance to that, but with several key changes. First and foremost, you cannot _choose_ your Image."

"Why not?" Gerald asked.

Jean-Vic answered, "Because your Image is a representation of your innermost self. Your Image always takes the form of a Duel Monster that represents your true being – it is, in essence, a manifestation of your soul. As such, there are some limitations.

"The first is that the Image can't be called upon unless your Life Points are 4,000 or less. Your soul will not let you call forth your Image unless you are in danger – it's a matter of self-preservation.

"For that matter, you cannot summon your Image to the field, use it in a fusion, or use it to make a Tribute Summon. Your Image cannot be destroyed by any card effect, nor can it be attacked – but it also won't protect you from a direct attack, unless that is its effect. Your soul will not put itself in the line of fire.

"All Images have an effect, even if the Image's form does not usually have one; otherwise they would be worthless. The effect differs depending on the Image, but they are almost always beneficial. The effect may have a cost; there are no ways to avoid paying the cost for an Image's effect.

"And one more thing… to call your Image out when the time is right, you need merely call it forth. Your soul will know what you want."

Jean-Vic took a deep breath. "But enough of that," he said. "We have a battle to fight."

"Can you give me a chair of some sort?" Gerald asked.

"No," Jean-Vic answered. "You will duel me standing like a man or you will forfeit!"

_Crap,_ Gerald thought. "Then let's duel." Both Life Point counters rose to 8,000.

**0000000**

Every spectator – Degas, Alexander, Laura, Ogre, Father Young, and several otherworldly forces – simultaneously thought, _Here we go._

**0000000**

"I always grant my foes the honor of the first turn," Jean-Vic said. "So make your opening move, Mr. Laxina."

_Sure, don't do me any favors…_ Gerald thought cynically. _This deck needs the first _attack, _not the first move._ He studied his opening hand. "I begin with Level Limit – Area B."

A bizarre laboratory blurred into existence around Gerald, hovering in mid-air along with him.

"Next," he said, "I summon one monster in face-down Defense Mode and set a card facedown. And then I end my turn."

Drawing his opening hand, Jean-Vic laughed triumphantly. "How perfect!" he exclaimed. "On the first turn, I've already drawn the pride and joy of my deck. Behold the mighty Vic Viper itself, Gradius, in Attack Mode!"

A space fighter descended into the sky, its jets trailing flame, guns at the ready. It hovered over Jean-Vic. (1,200/800)

And then a wave of energy burst from the Level Limit – Area B, and the ship landed. "My Level Limit forces your monster into Defense Mode and keeps it there," Gerald said. "Big overture, little show."

"Bah!" Jean-Vic replied. "In that case, I'll simply have to power him up. I call forth the Gradius Option in Attack Mode!"

A ball of red energy emerged from Gradius and hovered behind it. Looking closely, Gerald could see a tiny fighter ship inside it. (?)

The Pillar smiled. "Gradius Option copies the Attack and Defense Points of any one Gradius on my field. In exchange, if that Gradius is destroyed, the Option goes with it."

A beam of green energy passed between Gradius and the Option. (1,200/800)

"And now," Jean-Vic continued, "I play Gradius Missile! This Magic Card lets me destroy any one card on the field if I control a Gradius!"

A missile slid from under the Gradius and fired across the field, obliterating Gerald's face-down Humanoid Slime.

"That's not quite enough," Gerald said, pointing to the Level Limit – Area B behind him.

An evil smile crossed Jean-Vic's face. "Firstly, I could attack you with the Option if I wished so, because _that_ is a Level One monster."

Gerald swallowed hard.

"But secondly," the Pillar of Destruction continued, "Gradius Missile has another effect. If I control a Gradius Option, I may pay 500 Life Points in order to destroy _another_ card on your field. So I will, and Gradius Missile will take out your Level Limit – Area B!"

Jean-Vic's Life Points lowered to 7,500, and another missile emerged from the Option. It fired across the field, shattering Gerald's Level Limit – Area B with a small explosion.

"Now I switch Gradius back to Attack Mode…" The Gradius rose back into the sky, and Jean-Vic struck a dramatic pose, the wind blowing his cape about. "Gradius and Gradius Option, Duplicate P-Shot Attack directly!"

It was all Gerald could do to activate his face-down card. "I activate Negate Attack," he said, the wind blowing his jacket around as he did so. Unlike Jean-Vic's cape, it made him look pathetic.

An invisible wall appeared in front of Gradius and its Option, holding them off.

"Ah, well," Jean-Vic muttered. "The game is merely paused. I will set this card facedown and end my turn."

Gerald drew his own next card and spent a moment studying his field. _I can't protect myself that way again. And I'm willing to bet he has three of those Missiles… and if he draws another one, my life ends here._ "I set a card facedown," he said, "and summon Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

The humanoid robot with a plate marked 7 on its shoulder rose into view. (500/400)

"Jinzo #7 can attack you directly," Gerald added, "so I will have him do so with Cyber Glitch."

The robot charged up a ball of energy in its palm and threw it at Jean-Vic, causing the Pillar to grunt slightly as the energy hit him in the stomach. His Life Points went to 7,000.

"That will end my turn," Gerald added.

Even as he drew, Jean-Vic smiled. "You have nothing that can save you and you know it. I will now equip Gradius with the Cyclon Laser!"

A pair of laser cannons appeared on the underbelly of the Gradius, crackling with power. (1,200/800 – 1,500/800) Again, a beam of energy passed between the Gradius and its Option. (1,200/800 – 1,500/800)

"Not only is Gradius strengthened by this card," Jean-Vic explained, "but it gains the power to damage your Life Points through Defense Mode monsters. Unfortunately, the Option doesn't gain that effect, but it does continue to copy the power of my Gradius. Gradius Option, attack his Jinzo #7 with Duplicate Laser!"

Gerald cursed under his breath – he knew his face-down card meant nothing to the Option.

The ball of red energy flew overhead, stopping over Jinzo #7. A massive beam of energy flashed down, vaporizing the robot. Gerald's Life Points went to 7,000.

"And now, my Gradius…" the Pillar of Destruction began.

Gerald interrupted him with, "I activate Gravity Bind." The quicksilver orb appeared on his field, bobbing gently. "Monsters of Level Four or better cannot attack."

"Not if I negate it," Jean-Vic said. "And that is why I have my face-down Royal Decree. This negates every other trap on the field, including your Gravity Bind!"

The Royal Decree flipped up and fired a burst of static at the Gravity Bind, causing the orb to splatter across Gerald's field.

The Pillar of Destruction laughed. "As I was saying, Gradius, attack Gerald directly with Cyclon Laser Blast!"

The star fighter flew overhead, hovering directly over Gerald. A crosshair developed over the lazy duelist's chest, and then a laser slammed directly into him. Gerald flew back, striking into the mystic platform hard as his Life Points sank to 5,500.

As Gerald began to struggle to his feet, he noticed a massive burn mark on his shirt. He felt it… and it really was burnt. "What the…"

"This is a Dark Duel, Gerald," Jean-Vic pointed out. "Your body will not be injured for most of this battle, but you _will_ feel most of the damage you suffer. My turn has ended, but your pain will just get worse."

Taking a few deep breaths, Gerald thought, _At this rate, I hardly doubt that._ He drew his card and played it, announcing, "Pot of Greed."

Jean-Vic merely snorted.

"Next," Gerald said, "I activate Emergency Provisions. By destroying my useless Gravity Bind, I gain 1,000 Life Points."

The unusual mouth ate the shattered pieces of the Gravity Bind orb, and an aura of light surrounded Gerald, raising his Life Points to 6,500.

Gerald took another card from his hand. "Now," he continued, "I play the Magic Card known as Messenger of Peace. Monsters with 1,500 Attack Points or better cannot attack while this card is in play…"

The Messenger stepped forward, and both of Jean-Vic's ships floated down slightly, distracted by his presence.

_I wonder how long this card will last,_ Gerald thought to himself. _Jean-Vic destroyed my first two protections within a turn of their activation._ "Finally," he concluded, "I set one monster in Defense Mode. End turn."

Jean-Vic, meanwhile, growled. _Perfect,_ he thought. _The one defense that my Option can't dodge – as long as it's copying my Gradius's Attack Points, it's too strong to bypass the Messenger. I'm in for a turn or two of pain._ He drew. "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

Gerald drew his next card and let out a sigh. "First, I'll play 100 Life Points for the Messenger of Peace." His Life Points moved to 6,400. "I summon Inaba White Rabbit," he declared after that.

The white rabbit appeared next to its teleporter, glaring at the Pillar of Destruction. (700/500)

"Inaba, attack him directly," Gerald ordered.

The teleporter transformed the Inaba White Rabbit into a white ball of energy, propelling it at Jean-Vic. The rabbit then reformed and kicked Jean-Vic in the chest, causing him to grunt as his Life Points lowered to 6,300.

"I end my turn, which means the Inaba White Rabbit comes back to my hand," Gerald concluded. There was a ripple of energy, and then the Inaba White Rabbit vanished.

As the Pillar of Destruction straightened up, he drew his next card, staring daggers at the Messenger of Peace. _Damn that thing!_ "I set one card facedown and end my turn…"

"Have you forgotten your Royal Decree?" Gerald asked. "If that face-down card is a trap, it's worthless." He drew. "I pay 100 Life Points to maintain my Messenger of Peace." Now his Life Points were at 6,300. "And next I'll summon Servant of Catabolism."

The unusual snail-like being dropped onto Gerald's field from overhead. (700/500) Unlike before, however, there didn't seem to be anything special about this one.

"Servant of Catabolism, attack directly with your Electric Tendrils," Gerald ordered, his legs beginning to cramp. He wasn't used to standing during a duel.

The Servant inched forward, leapt across the gap, and dug its tendrils into Jean-Vic's gut, causing the Pillar of Destruction to grunt as his Life Points moved to 5,600.

"That will be my turn," Gerald finished.

Not even looking at the card he had drawn, Jean-Vic declared, "I play Spell Economics!"

A mysterious book rose in front of him, its page shimmering.

"The reason for that will be seen shortly," he noted. "Now I switch my Moai Interceptor Cannons into Attack Mode!"

What for all the world appeared to be a set of Easter Island heads rose into view, guns concealed in their mouths and sliding into position. (1,100/2,000)

Gerald whispered, "Oh, damn…"

Jean-Vic smirked as he explained, "Throughout the Gradius series, the stone statues of Easter Island are always there to stand against you. Moai Interceptor Cannons, attack the Servant of Catabolism with Rapa Nui Waves!"

The cannons fired a series of ring-like energy blasts, obliterating the Servant of Catabolism. Gerald's Life Points moved to 5,900.

"Now, as per their effect," the Pillar continued, "I can switch them face-down again." The Moai Interceptor Cannons vanished, replaced by a face-down card. "That will be my turn." _And once I destroy that cursed Messenger, _he thought, _you'll feel the might of my Gradius._

Gerald drew his next card, announcing, "I pay the Life Points for my Messenger of Peace…" His Life Points lowered to 5,800. "And now I play Dian Keto the Cure Master." An aura of light surrounded him, raising his Life Points back to 6,800.

_This could get tedious,_ Jean-Vic thought.

"Next," Gerald continued, "I resummon the Inaba White Rabbit." The rabbit appeared before him again. "Attack him directly, Inaba."

Once more, the rabbit teleported in front of Jean-Vic and kicked him in the chest, reducing his Life Points to 4,900.

"My turn ends," the lazy duelist finished, returning his monster to his hand.

Jean-Vic drew his own card, and then smiled as he looked at it. "I play Pot of Greed!" he began. Even as the evil pot flashed in front of him, he drew his two cards. He then announced, "Remember that song I was humming a moment ago? I just drew it…"

"They based a card on a piece of music?" Gerald asked.

"An _iconic_ piece of music," Jean-Vic replied. "I play the Magic Card known as Introductory Flight!"

The card, showing a bottom-up view of a Gradius flying through space, shimmered into view.

As he slid his deck out of his Duel Disk and began searching through it, Jean-Vic explained: "For this card to work, I have to pay 1,000 Life Points – or I would, but my Spell Economics takes up the cost for me." The Spell Economics flipped several pages. "Next, I may search my deck for any monster named Gradius, Big Core, or B.E.S. anything. The only condition is that I can't have played it previously – if it's on my field or in my Graveyard, I can't use Introductory Flight on it. At this point, that only invalidates Gradius!" He found the monster he was looking for, shuffled his deck briefly, and slid it back into his Duel Disk.

_I've heard the term "B.E.S." before,_ Gerald thought. _But I've never seen anyone play the monsters, so I don't know what to look out for._

"Once I've found an appropriate monster," Jean-Vic concluded, "I Special Summon it to the field in Attack Mode. Meet the first boss of the Gradius series – the mighty Big Core!"

A very large spaceship descended into view, looking in some ways like an upgraded version of the Gradius itself. The space between its "wings", however, was filled with blue bars. (2,300/1,100)

"Next," he continued, "I sacrifice my Gradius Option to summon a monster in face-down Defense Mode."

The Option disappeared, replaced by a face-down monster.

"Finally," Jean-Vic concluded, "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, obliterating your Messenger of Peace!"

The wind picked up, and the Messenger went flying off into the sky.

The Pillar of Destruction laughed, flipping his Moai Interceptor Cannons back into Attack Mode. "Thanks to my Royal Decree," he declared, "you couldn't stop me if you _wanted_ to, and I'm certain you do! Big Core, attack his defending monster with Bacterion Shock Barrage!"

The Big Core hovered over Gerald's face-down monster and unleashed four energy bolts, blowing the newly-revealed Island Turtle to pieces. As it returned to Jean-Vic's field, Gerald noticed that half the blue bars between its "wings" were gone.

"Two questions," Gerald asked. "One, what's a Bacterion, and two, what happened to your monster?"

"Two answers," Jean-Vic replied. "One, Big Core is a Bacterion ship – B.E.S. means Bacterion Elimination Squadron. Two, my Big Core has three shield counters and is destroyed when they're all gone; each time it battles a monster, it loses some of its shielding." He then smirked. "Where were we? Ah, yes, your demise. Gradius, attack directly with Cyclon Laser!"

The Gradius strafed past Gerald, blasting him in the stomach with the Cyclon Laser. He gasped and sank to one knee, his Life Points dropping to 4,700.

"Moai Interceptor Cannon," Jean-Vic continued, "attack him with Rapa Nui Waves!"

The Easter Island heads fired off their energy rings, causing Gerald to groan as they overwhelmed him and lowered his Life Points to 3,600.

Jean-Vic shook his head. "Pitiful," he muttered. "Your only card in your hand is the Inaba White Rabbit. What a waste of our time. I switch the Moai Interceptor Cannon back into Defense Mode and end my turn."

_I'd complain,_ Gerald thought, _but the sad truth is that he's right._ He drew, shifting his other leg into a formal kneeling position rather than standing up, and then let out a sigh. _I can only play one monster this turn, and even with whatever ability my Image could conjure up, I'd still be in the soup._ Only then did he look at the card he'd just drawn. _Hold on just a moment…_

"I play Exchange," he said. "Let's see your hand…"

Jean-Vic turned his card around, and it was exactly what Gerald thought it was. Gerald then turned his card around. "My card orders a trade – my Inaba White Rabbit for your Card of Sanctity."

"How did you know I had something you could use?" Jean-Vic asked, awed. "I could have held a Gradius-exclusive Equip Magic Card for all you knew!"

"Call it a hunch. Nobody empties their hand in this game without insurance or desperation, and you're not desperate. Now Exchange switches our cards…"

Two hologrammatic hands reached out. One took Gerald's Inaba White Rabbit, while the other took Jean-Vic's Card of Sanctity. The hands switched sides, giving each duelist the other's card.

"And now I'll play your Card of Sanctity," Gerald continued. "Hand refreshment time."

Gerald drew a full set of six cards, while Jean-Vic drew five.

Looking at his hand, Gerald said, "Next, I'll play Swords of Revealing Light."

The swords descended, pinning Jean-Vic's monsters in place. The Pillar of Destruction seethed as his face-down monster, a large spaceship with metal tentacles (a B.E.S. Tetran), was revealed. (1,800/2,300)

"After that, I play Banner of Courage…" Even as Gerald said this, the banner went up behind him. "…and summon Mucus Yolk in Attack Mode. It gains 200 Attack Points from my Banner."

A blob of protoplasm splashed onto Gerald's field, its pink core shining as the Banner of Courage billowed overhead. (0/0 – 200/0)

"Mucus Yolk, attack directly with Damaging Form: Lance," Gerald ordered, his voice back to its usual bored self.

The blob turned into a credible attempt at a lance, launched skyward, and fell point-first onto Jean-Vic, lowering his Life Points to 4,700.

Gerald then added, "Mucus Yolk gains 1,000 Attack Points when it damages your Life Points." Indeed, the blob grew in size slightly. (200/0 – 1,200/0)

"I play my other Dian Keto and end my turn," Gerald finished. An aura of light coated him again, raising his Life Points to 4,600.

Even with the seven cards in his hand, Jean-Vic was still furious. "I'll begin with Emergency Provisions," he said, "letting me destroy my own Magic or Trap cards in order to gain Life Points. I'll take out Cyclon Laser and Royal Decree."

Both cards shattered, and his Life Points rose to 6,700.

"Next," he said, "I'll equip Gradius with Double Shot Cannon. This card can't coexist with the Cyclon Laser, but it raises Gradius's attack by 300 and lets it attack twice a turn. In other words, once those swords are down, you're in trouble."

The lasers on the underbelly of Jean-Vic's monster vanished, replaced instead by two cannons.

"Finally," Jean-Vic said, "I play Pot of Generosity, letting me shuffle two cards from my hand back into my deck."

"Why would you do that?" Gerald asked. He received no answer; instead, the Pillar of Destruction merely did as he'd said the card let him – he took a B.E.S. Crystal Core and Cyclon Laser from his hand and shuffled them into his deck.

"Now I must end my turn," Jean-Vic finished.

Gerald drew, eyebrow arching. "I set one card facedown," he began, "and summon another Servant of Catabolism."

This one looked identical to his first, but it was the special one. (700/500 – 900/500) As it came onto the field, the Mucus Yolk bubbled in what Gerald thought was respect.

"Mucus Yolk," Gerald ordered, "attack Jean-Vic with Damaging Form: Spear again."

Once again, the blob became a spear and launched into Jean-Vic's chest, knocking his Life Points to 5,500 and raising Mucus Yolk's Attack Points to 2,200. In the process, however, Gerald couldn't help but notice that all his direct attacks didn't seem to faze Jean-Vic nearly as much as Jean-Vic's attacks were shaking him.

Finally, he just said it. "Why are my direct attacks not affecting you as much as yours do me?"

The Pillar laughed. "Because pain is in my portfolio!" Jean-Vic explained. "I live to injure and destroy the weak! No matter how many times I am struck, I will only grow stronger!

"You, however, are soft and innocent. You see nothing but evil in my powers – which makes you quiver in fear. I am the Pillar of Destruction, and I live to destroy, so pain means nothing to me; but you seek to defend, and so you feel every blow."

With a mighty laugh, Jean-Vic concluded, "That is what will bring your defeat, you weak-hearted fool! I am destruction in its purest form – you are what I seek to destroy!"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Gerald said. "Either way… Servant of Catabolism, attack with Electric Tendrils."

The snail-like being leapt across the void and dug its tentacles into Jean-Vic's gut – putting the lie to his previous words, as he let out a scream of pain. His Life Points went down to 4,600.

"What the hell was that?" the Pillar asked, breathing hard. "It was like taking a wrecking ball to the stomach! I shouldn't have felt _any_ pain, but that's the most I've ever suffered!"

"To be honest, I have no idea myself." Gerald shrugged. "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Jean-Vic drew his next card, grinning evilly…

"I activate Thunder of Ruler," Gerald said, "which cancels your Battle Phase for this turn before you even destroy my Swords."

The Pillar snarled. "I'll do it anyway, then. I activate a second Gradius Missile!"

The Gradius lowered a missile from its bay and fired across the field, shattering the Swords of Revealing Light.

"Next," Jean-Vic continued, "I play the Continuous Magic Card Boss Rush!"

The air around them seemed to reverberate, before becoming a starry field.

"Its first effect prevents me from making any Normal Summons or Sets," the Pillar said, "so I'll end my turn with one card facedown."

_Why would anyone play a card that limits their options like that? _Gerald wondered. He drew. "I attack with the Mucus Yolk again. Go for a direct attack with Damaging Form: Spear."

As the Mucus Yolk rose into the air, Jean-Vic activated his face-down card. "Go, Widespread Ruin! This destroys your strongest monster!"

The Mucus Yolk exploded in a rain of ooze.

Gerald shrugged. "In that case, I'll attack with my Servant of Catabolism instead."

The Servant sprang forward and hit Jean-Vic again, making him scream and sending his Life Points to 3,700.

But even as the Servant slid away, the Pillar smiled, taking a few deep breaths. "You fool," he muttered. "I was waiting for this. **_I call upon my Image!_**"

A cloud of black energy emerged from Jean-Vic's back, rising above both duelists. It slowly took shape, becoming a silver golem with a gear in one shoulder, bearing a large gun.

"Behold my Image," Jean-Vic said, arms extended. "The very embodiment of my soul, the mighty Gadget Soldier!"

Gerald swallowed hard. "What does it do?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Jean-Vic said. "For now, it's still your turn."

With a shrug, Gerald said, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

As soon as Jean-Vic drew his next card, he played it. "I activate Graceful Charity!" He drew three cards, and then tossed two of them. A hologrammatic hand grabbed one of the discards – Gerald's Inaba White Rabbit – and slid it into his Graveyard.

Even as he looked at his new cards, Jean-Vic began to laugh. It was not a pleasant sound in the slightest.

"What'd you just get?" Gerald asked.

Jean-Vic paused and said, "I'll give you one free turn. I'll end my turn here, but on your next turn you will be obliterated…"

Gerald drew, studied the card he'd drawn, and said, "I summon Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

Another of the humanoid robots strode out, admiring the Banner of Courage. (500/400 – 700/400) It turned and saluted the Servant of Catabolism.

"Jinzo #7, attack directly with Cyber Glitch," Gerald ordered, "and then Servant of Catabolism, you attack with Electric Tendrils."

The ball of energy and the digging tentacles caused Jean-Vic his share of pain, but he just kept smiling. His Life Points sank to 2,100.

"That's my turn," Gerald declared.

As he stood up, dusted off, and drew his next card, the Pillar of Darkness said, "Gerald… you needed to win on that turn to survive. Now you are going to fall." He held up a black-bordered card, the art on which showed a red-haired man in blue armor standing over a shattered landscape.

Gerald's heart skipped a beat, causing him fall forward onto his hands. "That's a…"

"A Card of Night." Jean-Vic Viper raised the card over his head, the wind fluttering his cape behind him. "This duel is about to end messily. I play the Card of Night known as **_True Face of Destruction!_**"

He set it on his Duel Disk, and the world began to shake around them. All around the Cathedral of St. Paul, shafts of black light burst from the ground, destroying the land. Chad and Lucifer fled the area, retreating to where the Corolla was parked.

The air turned a pitch black, and the light of the sun became blood red. The only thing unchanged was the Cathedral itself.

"What does that card do?" Gerald asked.

"It has two drawbacks," Jean-Vic began. "The first is that I cannot attack you directly. The second is that any Battle Damage I take is doubled. But…" He smiled, and there was a thousand years of torment in that smile. "If I ever damage your Life Points, the damage is _tripled_ – and nothing can reduce that damage."

The world froze around Gerald. "Tripled?"

"Three times the starting value," Jean-Vic confirmed. "And every time I destroy a monster you control, I draw a card. Now I'll remove a shield counter from my B.E.S. Tetran, and in doing so destroy one face-down card on your field."

The Tetran altered in appearance as its shields weakened, but it then fired a beam of light across the field, destroying Gerald's face-down Gravity Bind.

The Pillar continued, "I set one card face-down, and activate my Image's effect – Reboot Program! By shuffling my hand back into my deck, I may place a number of counters equal to the number of cards shuffled on my monsters. I shuffle one card back…" He took his deck and shuffled the last card in his hand back into it. "And that lets me place one shield counter on my Tetran."

The Gadget Soldier focused its gun on the B.E.S. Tetran and shone a beam of energy on it, fixing its shields.

"Now…" Jean-Vic raised his hand. "Gradius, thanks to its Double Shot Cannon, can attack both of your monsters. You have no way to stop the attack. And so… Gradius…" He brought his hand down. "_Fire!_"

The Gradius rose high into the air above them and fired twice, the first shot blowing away the Servant of Catabolism and the second wiping out the Jinzo #7.

Gerald let out a cry of agony as the amplified damage struck him, plunging his Life Points from 4,600 to 400 in one fell swoop. He collapsed onto his hands again, barely managing to mutter, "I…call forth… my Image…"

"Not today!" Jean-Vic called out. "I activate my face-down Quick-Play Magic Card, the Card of Night named Image Sealer!"

A black-bordered card with a picture of a branding iron emerged from the card, and the branding iron flew across the field, pressing into Gerald's chest. The young man screamed at the top of his lungs as it seared into his very soul.

The Pillar of Destruction explained, "I can only activate Image Sealer when you attempt to call your Image into play. It seals your Image away for the rest of the duel. Normally, I'd have to pay all but one Life Point and suffer severe physical pain to activate this card, but Spell Economics pays both prices for me." He laughed behind his hand.

As the branding iron vanished, Gerald collapsed to a prone position, his breathing shallow and ragged as he tried to recover.

"Gerald… you're finished…" Jean-Vic looked almost sympathetic. "If you summon a monster to attack me and can't kill me with one hit, you will lose the duel. If you try to defend, my B.E.S. monsters will destroy it, and I can regenerate their shields with my Image. Even if I can't use my Image, my Boss Rush card lets me summon any B.E.S. or Big Core monster I want from my deck when one dies – and thanks to my Image and my Pot of Generosity, there are plenty in there." Jean-Vic shrugged. "It's over, Gerald. This duel is mine."

**0000000**

Down on the ground below, surrounded by the shafts of darkness, Chad could not hear what Jean-Vic was saying, but he could see what had happened to his friend. He turned to Lucifer and asked, his eyes welling with tears, "He can't be finished, can he?"

There was a pause, and then Lucifer shook his head, an aura of fire rising around his body as he shook with sorrow. "I am so sorry… but Monsieur Laxina is done for. He has no hope…"

**0000000**

In front of the mirror array, Degas and Alexander clinked together a pair of champagne glasses. "To a new world of darkness," Degas said.

"To the endless night," replied Alexander.

**0000000**

As Jean-Vic ended his turn, Gerald fought to regain his sanity. _What… what's happening? How could this happen to me? This… this can't be right._

He lifted himself onto one hand, his mind still scattered. _I… I don't want to die like this… But he's right. There's nothing I can do. I have nothing to save me. He's even locked away my soul…_

The young man looked into the black sky, shedding a tear. He knew it was his turn, but he also knew that the instant he drew a card it would be all over. _Please… anyone…_ He then sent a pleading thought out to the sky. _Light… The Light, please help me…_

_**Chosen of the Light!**_

_What?_

**0000000**

All around Gerald, the world went white. He looked up, and found himself looking at a golden sphere, orbited by small white globes.

**_Chosen of the Light, you have called upon us for aid,_** the sphere said. **_We shall assist you in this battle. You fight against a Card of Night, the concentrated power of darkness. For that reason, we may grant you our own power._**

_You… can?_

**_We can. But a warning, Chosen of the Light: one card in your deck is a medium for our power. That card must be used to trigger the power we will grant you. If you fail to do so properly, the power will not work and all is lost!_**

_Medium? What do you mean by that?_

**_The rules do not permit us to say. Go, Chosen of the Light! _**The sphere shone so brightly that Gerald couldn't look. **_Our protection is with you!_**

The world went black for a moment…

**0000000**

Even as his consciousness returned to the Cathedral, Gerald knew something had changed. His deck felt odd.

Gerald rose to his feet, staggering slightly as the pain from Jean-Vic's last attack arced through him. He set his fingers to his deck and drew a card, looking at it. "I play Pot of Avarice," he said, "shuffling Inaba White Rabbit, two Jinzo #7s, Humanoid Slime, and Mucus Yolk back into my deck to draw two cards."

He drew the cards, and his eyes went wide at one of them. It was a pure white-bordered card with the notation "Heaven's Gift" on its type line. _That has to be the Light's power,_ he thought. _I see what they meant by triggering it. But what's the medium?_

"I play Monster Reborn," he began, "bringing back…" _I must have to tribute a specific monster to make the power in this card work. But which one?_

Suddenly, Gerald remembered a series of odd occurrences that had happened throughout his last three duels, including the one he was currently in. One monster had acted strangely, and made the others act strange…

"…Servant of Catabolism," he said, making sure to bring back the one that felt so odd.

**0000000**

In another world, a force beyond angel or devil or man, one manifestation of which was as a golden sphere, thought, _PERFECT!_

**0000000**

The Servant of Catabolism rose, and even as it did so, Jean-Vic began to laugh. "Oh, what a defiant fool you are, Gerald!" the Pillar of Destruction said. "You bring back an ant to threaten a titan!"

"This is just a tribute, you know," Gerald said. "I'm sacrificing it for my Heaven's Gift…"

The Pillar cut off in mid-laugh. "A Heaven's Gift?"

Gerald nodded. "Behold the monster known simply as **_Heaven's Sphere_**."

The Servant of Catabolism rose skyward, and it began to fall in on itself, causing the Gradius, Big Core, and B.E.S. Tetran to fly backwards a few paces in shock. Slowly, the gathered power locked in the Servant worked its way to the surface, surrounding its former host in a shell of light. And then there was a flash…

When the light cleared and everyone could see again, the monster in front of Gerald was a perfect globe, apparently with a texture similar to marble, an aura of pure light surrounding it. He estimated it as having a six-foot diameter, which made it about the same height as he was. Its mere presence made him feel confident, and this feeling was boosted as the Banner of Courage strengthened it. (2,000/1,000 – 2,200/1,000)

The Pillar of Destruction laughed one last time. "Such a waste of effort. It's weaker than my Big Core by 100 Attack Points. The Light should have given you a better gift."

Gerald gave the card a closer look, but then sank slightly as the world chose that minute to spin like a top around him. He tried to read what was written in the text box on Heaven's Sphere, but his vision swam, and he couldn't make out a word of it. "Ah, well," he finally said. "Heaven's Sphere, attack Gradius with Light of Justice."

A point of light began to grow on the front of the Sphere, and then it fired a beam of perfect light, blowing a hole through the Gradius. It crashed to the ground and exploded, its demise sending a shockwave through Jean-Vic; his Life Points sank to 700.

"I set this facedown," Gerald concluded, "and end my turn."

Snarling, Jean-Vic drew his next card. "I'll use the effect of B.E.S. Tetran, removing a Shield Counter to do away with your damned Banner of Courage!"

A beam of light fired from the Tetran, snapping the banner's pole in half. Heaven's Sphere's Attack Points returned to normal.

"Next," he continued, "I'll use Reboot Program to restore that Shield Counter." Even as he shuffled the card into his deck, the Gadget Soldier focused its cannon on the Tetran, repairing its shields.

Gerald just yawned.

His eyes snapping wide, Jean-Vic roared, "Big Core, attack the Heaven's Sphere and finish this duel!"

"Activate Waboku," Gerald replied.

The three priestesses flashed into being, their shining lights intercepting the Big Core's missiles. Now all of the shields between its wings were gone.

"That's my turn," the Pillar said, sneering somewhat. "But that will be your final turn – you will be crushed underfoot before my next turn ends!"

Gerald drew, smiled, and said, "You have no next turn. I equip Heaven's Sphere with the Axe of Despair."

Jean-Vic's arms dropped to his sides, and he just stared blankly at his impending defeat.

The Axe of Despair appeared behind the Heaven's Sphere, and it drew energy from the weapon, its aura intensifying. (2,000/1,000 – 3,000/1,000)

"Don't bother attacking the Big Core, my Heaven's Sphere," Gerald said, waving his hand towards Jean-Vic. "Cast your light upon its master and finish the battle."

Several pinpoints of light moved across the surface of the sphere, gathering on its front and beginning to expand. They soon reached critical mass, and then the Heaven's Sphere fired a beam of pure energy straight into the Pillar of Destruction, blasting through his body. His Life Points plunged straight to zero.

The black lights vanished, and the sky cleared above them as the Duel Disks shut down and the True Face of Destruction evaporated. The Heaven's Sphere lingered a moment, bathing Gerald in its light, before it too disappeared.

As Gerald watched, Jean-Vic began to convulse, uttering gibberish as he did so. Suddenly, his body froze, and darkness began to cover him, starting at his feet and rising towards his head. A moment later, he was fully covered in the darkness, looking like an obsidian statue.

There was a loud cracking sound, and then the darkness on Jean-Vic Viper's body shattered, and he collapsed face-first onto the mystic platform beneath him. Gerald collapsed immediately after he did.

All throughout the city, beams of darkness briefly came into being, and then vanished.

**0000000**

Degas crushed his champagne glass in his hand, not even noticing the glass shards digging into his palm. "A Heaven's Sphere?" he asked. "The Light sent him a damned Heaven's Sphere? Those sons of bitches!"

"Calm down," Alexander urged him, finishing his own drink. "There's no reason for us to go mad simply because the Light gave him a powerful gift…"

"No reason?" Degas glared at his partner. "We've just lost both a Pillar and the Cathedral of St. Paul simultaneously – if that doesn't make us the laughingstocks of the Darkness, we're the luckiest bastards alive – Gerald's got both the Beloved of Fire _and_ a frigging Heaven's Sphere on his side, thanks to Jean-Vic's defeat the overall Darkness in this city's taken a hit, we're all but guaranteed to lose the girl now, and on top of everything else, I've got glass in my hand!" He began to pick it out of his palm. "Isn't that reason enough?"

The man in green returned to his chair. "To answer your concerns one at a time: the Pillar of Destruction is the weakest of the four, the Cathedral was mostly bait, the Beloved of Fire can't aid Gerald in any direct way, there are ways to counter any card – which is all that the Heaven's Sphere is at this point – we have ways to restore the Darkness level, and we can retrieve the girl at any time." He then smiled. "As for your hand, you need a tighter rein on your temper."

After taking a few deep breaths, the man in black sat down, his hand still bleeding. "All right… You have your points." He sighed again, snapping his fingers and shutting off the mirror array. "But still, this is not a good day to be in our position."

"I doubt there are ever good days." Alexander took a roll of bandages from his pocket and tossed them to Degas. "Shall we awaken the second Pillar?"

As he bandaged his hand, Degas answered, "I need a moment to collect myself first."

**0000000**

When Gerald regained consciousness, he found himself at the foot of the Cathedral's steps, Lucifer's coat under his head. He slid a finger down his front, finding the burned spot that the direct attack from Gradius had left in his shirt. "So it was real," he muttered.

He sat up, causing the world to spin around him, and straightened his hair with one hand. As he looked at the Cathedral, he decided the fight had messed with his head – it seemed to be glowing softly.

Two sets of footsteps caught his attention, and then Lucifer and Chad were beside him. Lucifer bowed and sank to his knees, saying, "You have my utmost respect, Monsieur Laxina. Your victory over ze Pillar of Destruction is a true blow to ze Darkness; ze Light chose well when it chose you."

"Somehow I don't feel very special." Gerald laughed softly, still feeling like he'd run head-on into a brick wall. "How do I know there aren't a million Chosen of the Light?"

"More like forty at any given time."

Part of Gerald's world fell out. "How many?"

Lucifer shrugged. "Everyone who fights on ze side of ze Light is a Chosen of ze Light. Even ze Three Heroes, zough zey knew it not. Sorry if you no longer feel special."

Chad, meanwhile, asked, "What was that last card you played? I've never heard of it…"

Getting over his disillusionment, Gerald took the white-bordered card off of his Duel Disk and held it up. "I never heard of it either, until I drew it."

Moving behind Gerald, Lucifer leaned in close. "Zere is no doubt. Zat is a Heaven's Sphere. I'm surprised ze Light would risk sending one here," he said.

"A Heaven's Sphere?" Chad asked.

"One of ze guardian creatures of ze Light," Lucifer explained. "Zeir purpose is to guard ze most important servants of ze Light. But don't get a swelled head – even zey are sent on other jobs from time to time."

Gerald sighed. "Do you exist to shred my ego?" he asked.

"It is one of my duties as a servant of Dreams. On that note, I need to report zis occurrence." The man in the white suit retrieved his jacket, dusting it off, and then bowed again. "I must congratulate you once more. You have done something none of ze Light's other Chosen could do. Forget that not. Until we meet again…" And donning his jacket, Lucifer vanished in a flash of fire.

Chad sighed. "That might be the most untrustworthy man I've ever met."

"His information seems solid enough," Gerald noted.

"I'm not referring to his information."

"Oh." And then Gerald grabbed his head as a splitting headache rushed through him. Before he could even speak, the vision struck him.

**0000000**

_It was the city of St. Paul, with Minneapolis visible in the distance. As before, a dark shroud covered it._

_But suddenly, a beam of light burst through the covering darkness, revealing the Cathedral of St. Paul in all its glory. The shroud retracted from the Summit Hill district._

_The vision pulled back, and the city became a mere black marble in the hands of a man in black. He and the man in green smiled to each other, and they moved to a large device. _

The device looked something like a four-leaved tree; three of the "leaves" currently held similar marbles – one white, one grey, and one blue. All three occupied "leaves" currently sat at the same level.

_The man in black lowered the one empty "leaf" and set the black marble on it before stepping back._

_  
That "leaf" bent to the ground, causing the device to snap off halfway down the trunk. It bounced as it hit the floor._

_The man in black and the man in green laughed, and they didn't stop for some time…_

_And with that, the vision went dead._

**0000000**

Once Gerald had his head back under control, he placed a hand on it and stood up, wobbling slightly – the duel with Jean-Vic had left him drained.

Chad was walking out of the Cathedral as Gerald stood up. "Everyone inside is cured of the Darkness Infection," he reported. "I guess if you take out a Pillar, you cure all his victims with him. Speaking of Jean-Vic Viper, he's gone – I saw him fall, but we were so worried about you that we lost track of him, and now I can't find him."

"I doubt that's important," Gerald replied, and then he described his vision.

After hearing it, Chad said, "Any clue what it means?"

Gerald shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. My guess, though, is that it's a clue to what Degas and Alexander are up to." He then sighed. "But my last vision said that Jean-Vic had Laura's key, and now that he's gone, we can't…"

He took a step back, and his foot landed on something. He lifted his foot, and there was a shiny key under it.

"Scratch that, we can," he corrected himself. "Shall we?"

Chad nodded. "Onward."

The two headed for their car, Gerald still holding his head.

**0000000**

Two others had seen the Pillar's defeat in its entirety.

Sol Kilkarn arrived just too late to speak to Gerald, but he'd seen the duel from a distance. _So that's what he has to go up against…_ he thought. _I can only hope I do half as well if I encounter one. Even if I lose, though, I won't back down. I can't if I honestly want to repent._

And in the room with Laura's cell, Father Young held out his hand. "Fifty bucks, Ogre."

"Damn it!" The muscleman began to search his pockets.

**GRADIUS MISSILE**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: Gradius firing a missile.

Effect: You may only activate this card if you control a face-up "Gradius" on the field. Destroy one card on your opponent's field. If you control a face-up "Gradius Option", you may pay 500 Life Points for each one you control. If you do so, you may destroy one additional card on your opponent's field for each "Gradius Option" you control.

**INTRODUCTORY FLIGHT**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A bottom-up view of a Gradius flying through space.

Effect: Pay 1000 Life Points. Search your deck for a monster with "B.E.S.", or named "Gradius" or "Big Core", which does not currently exist on your field or in your Graveyard, and Special Summon it to your field in face-up Attack Position. Then shuffle your deck.

**DOUBLE SHOT CANNON**

Type: Equip Magic Card

Image: A Gradius with two guns on its underbody.

Effect: This card may only be equipped to "Gradius". The equipped monster gains 300 ATK Points and may attack twice during its owner's Battle Phase. This card and "Cyclon Laser" cannot be equipped to the same monster at the same time.

**TRUE FACE OF DESTRUCTION**

Type: Continuous Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A red-haired man in blue armor, holding a sword skyward, standing on a burned-out and war-torn field.

Effect: You may not attack your opponent's Life Points directly as long as this card is face-up. All Battle Damage you receive is doubled in quantity and intensity. All Battle Damage dealt to your opponent is tripled and cannot be reduced by a card effect. Each time you destroy a monster your opponent controls, draw one card from your deck.

**IMAGE SEALER**

Type: Quick-Play Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A red-hot branding iron.

Effect: You may only activate this card when your opponent calls on their Image. Pay all but one Life Point and suffer severe physical damage. Your opponent cannot call forth their Image for the rest of the duel. (This card does not trigger death if used with another Card of Night in a losing duel.)

**HEAVEN'S SPHERE**

Type: Effect Monster/Heaven's Gift

Statistics: Light/Fairy/6/2000/1000/Effect/Heaven's Gift

Image: A large white orb, pulsing with power.

Effect: (Gerald's vision was too groggy to make this out.)

**GADGET SOLDIER**

Image Effect: "Reboot Program" - Shuffle your hand back into your deck. You may place a number of counters equal to the number of cards shuffled this way on face-up monsters you control. The counters must be ones named in the card's text. (If the card does not specify a type of counter, it is a Spell Counter.)

**New Card Type: Heaven's Gift**

As Cards of Night are to the Darkness, Heaven's Gifts are to the Light. They are the purest concentration of holy energy into card form. In some cases, Heaven's Gifts are simply powerful magic trapped in the form of a Duel Monsters card; in other cases, such as with Heaven's Sphere, they are a way forthe Chosen of the Light to call upon one of the Light's more powerful servants in a duel.

Unlike Cards of Night, which demand massive costs from their players, Heaven's Gifts do not damage their users. However, there is a catch (there always is) - Heaven's Gifts are attuned to one specific person, and work only for that person. Nobody else may play a Heaven's Gift other than its chosen user - it will either simply refuse to work or make itself unusable in some way. There is no punishment for using more than one Heaven's Gift in a duel and losing, but then again, most Chosen will only see one Heaven's Gift in their lives.

In times of extreme crisis, Heaven's Gifts may "loan" themselves to allies of their chosen player. If this happens, they will typically take on another form.

Unlike other created cards, but just like Cards of Night, Heaven's Gifts may not be used in other stories.

_Coming next chapter: Laura is sick of waiting to be rescued, so she's decided to perform a jailbreak. Her guard, Ogre, isn't about to let this happen. If Laura wants to get out, she'll have to duel her way out of the cell. That's just what she's looking for, though! What sort of strategy do the distressed damsel and the muscle-bound freak use? Read Chapter Nine, "Breakout", and you may just find out!_


	10. Breakout

_**My name's Laura Vesnic, and my life is really starting to suck at this point.**_

_**Two days ago, I was snatched out of a bookstore in Augusta, Maine, and hauled off to St. Paul, Minnesota. Why? I wish I knew. My "hosts" don't want to tell me anything, either.**_

_**So here I am, sitting in a cold, dismal cage (yeah, a real cage), and the only way I can even get out to stretch my legs is to duel my guard. If I lose, not only do I get tossed in a pit full of rats, but there's no hope that I'll escape – and at this point, I get the feeling not escaping will be hazardous to my health.**_

_**It's not all bad. I know there are two guys out in the city who are coming my way to get me out of here, so it's not like the entire city's against me…**_

_**  
But I've never counted on other people before, and I'm not doing it now!**_

**Chapter Nine: Breakout**

Normally, two men guarded the Darkness's prisoner – Father Young and Ogre, two of the "normal" servants of Degas and Alexander. At the moment, however, only one of them was on duty.

Father Young was out of the prison at the moment, and was currently standing on a street corner, holding his Bible under one arm. Even though few people were daring to leave their homes given the current state of St. Paul, he had still attracted a fairly good crowd.

The crowd hung onto his every word.

"My children," the preacher said, "the phrase may be overused, but the Lord _does_ work in mysterious ways. He tests us in so many different ways, some so strange and confusing that they don't seem real. So it is with this city! This Darkness Infection is but one of His many tests of His children; only those with evil and hate in their hearts will be infected, while those who walk these streets like a true child of the Lord will be spared. This is no time to cower in fear, to hide from the outside world; this is a time to prove your faith in the Lord! Walk these streets without fear, my children, for God watches over us all!"

The crowd let out a joyful cry.

"Now let us pray…" Father Young said.

As the people around him bowed their heads, however, the preacher's mind was filled with unease.

_God Almighty, what am I doing?_ he thought. _Listen to me! I'm turning the word of God into a weapon for the Darkness! These people around me… they seek salvation, and what do I give them? I give them a handful of thorns and call it wheat; I give them a cup of vinegar and call it wine._

_I have to do these foul deeds, I know – it must be done. The world is too cursed and twisted to be allowed to carry on like this. Darkness must scour it before Heaven can redeem it. After the Flood, the Lord vowed never to do such a thing again… but what the Lord cannot do, the Darkness will._

_But… but that doesn't excuse my actions. I may try to justify it, but I'm condemning these people to the Darkness's mercy. I can't convince myself that the ends justify the means anymore._

Aloud, Father Young said, "Amen." The crowd collapsed, the Darkness Infection claiming them in their prayers.

_Lord, forgive these children, for they know not what they do,_ Father Young thought to himself, bowing his head. _But there shall be no forgiveness for me, for I know **exactly** what I do…_

**0000000**

Laura Vesnic paced back and forth within her cell, hands behind her back and eyes shut. Her captors had at least had the decency to procure a few changes of clothes for her, and so she was now wearing a white turtleneck and light blue pants. Her long red hair had gone frizzy from lack of washing, and she was not in a good mood at all.

Outside of the cell, Ogre leaned back against his chair, watching her pace through the holes in his metal mask. The massive gun (likely to break the arms of any other man who tried to fire it) was up against one wall. His eyes followed the captive girl as she wandered the cell, until finally he yelled, "Stop with the pacing! I'm getting dizzy just watching you!"

"If I had something to do in here, I wouldn't have to pace!" Laura fired back. "Cripes, there are federal prisoners that have more to do than I do!"

Ogre paused. "Well, you're right about that, I guess," he admitted. "Still, why don't you work out again or something? Your pacing is gonna wear a hole in the friggin' cell floor."

Laura gestured to her living conditions. "Not a whole lot of room to work out in here, is there?" she said. "Maybe if you let me out for a moment…"

"Boss's orders," Ogre replied. "Couldn't if I wanted to, and I don't really want to anyway."

The girl seethed. "Can you at least tell me _what_ your organization wants with me?"

"The bosses didn't tell me that," the muscleman said. "I can kinda understand that part, but they didn't tell Father Young, either, and they actually _trust_ him. Must be something really big if they left both of us out of it." He then paused. "Then again, maybe it was a whim. I can never be sure with Alexander…"

"Something wrong with your employer?" Laura asked, prying for any information that could be useful.

Ogre grunted. "As far as I can tell, he hasn't done a damn thing for us the entire time," he said. "I can't help but think Degas is keeping him around just to have someone to talk to. Degas does all the work, as far as I can tell…" He shrugged. "I guess Alexander has to have some purpose – he's one of the bosses, after all – but I'm stumped as far as working out what that purpose is…"

_Interesting,_ Laura thought. _Just keep talking, musclehead – everything you tell me will make life easier once I'm out of this hellhole._

**0000000**

Outside of the building, Chad and Gerald were driving through the city at a crawl, looking for the mysterious symbol that would designate the proper building – the one Laura was currently occupying.

They'd traveled four miles worth of buildings and had yet to find it.

"Suddenly I understand why you sleep so much," Chad said as they passed yet another row of incorrect buildings. "If I wasn't driving I'd be asleep myself."

"It _does_ pass the time, yes," Gerald replied. He was currently going through his deck one card at a time, stopping for a moment on Heaven's Sphere. After a second, he picked it up and gave it a closer look. "Chad, mind taking a look at this?"

Slowing the car, Chad replied, "All right…"

He reached for Heaven's Sphere, and then his hand passed right through it.

Chad nearly crashed the car out of pure shock.

As usual, however, Gerald had maintained his composure. He touched the artwork on the card, simply to make sure he could, and then reread the text. "'This card ceases to exist if it leaves your control or you are unconscious'… Oh, I understand now," he said.

"Mind explaining it to me?" Chad replied, taking a few deep breaths and regaining control of the vehicle.

"Simply put, nobody else can even touch this card," Gerald explained. "If it ever leaves my control – which apparently means my grip, as well – it ceases to be until I regain control. If my suspicion is correct, that means it will remove itself from the game if someone tries to steal it with Change of Heart, Snatch Steal, or the like. If that bit about unconsciousness means what I think it does, it won't exist when I'm asleep, either."

Chad thought about it for a moment. "Well… that's convenient. Not only is it powerful, but you're the only one who can use it."

Gerald nodded, and then saw something out his window. He rolled the window down, jabbed his hand out…

….and caught a small scrap of paper. He drew it in and, seeing that it was folded, opened it.

"Find something?" Chad asked.

"There's an address… and that's the same symbol that we're looking for. I think someone just gave us a heads-up." Gerald held up the paper. "Go there. And don't bother with the speed limits." He prudently closed his window.

The resulting acceleration broke at least three state laws.

Unseen by Gerald or Chad, a young man stepped out of a back alley, watching their car zoom by. He adjusted a chain around his neck.

"That's the first part of my atonement," Sol Kilkarn whispered to himself. "Now to find the next part…"

**0000000**

As the two men drove through the streets, Laura's patience, long since stretched to the breaking point, finally snapped. She studied her cage door, working out a few figures in her head.

_If I kick it right **there**, _she thought, _I can open it. Of course, I still have to get past the meatbag over there…_

"Hey!" she said aloud.

Ogre, who was busy loading his gun, looked in her direction. "What?"

Laura smirked and said, "I was wondering if I could make a little wager. You duel, right?"

"Of course," he said.

"Let's have a duel – you against me. If I win, you let me out of this cage for a few minutes, and I get some time to stretch out."

The muscleman gave it some thought, and then said, "On one condition. If you lose, I throw you into the rat pit."

Suddenly, Laura wasn't so sure of herself. "Rat pit?"

"We set it up when we established this place," Ogre replied. "In case you tried to break out and failed, we'd throw you into a massive pit filled with the biggest, filthiest rats we could find. Lose this duel, and I toss you into it. Refuse that condition, and we won't duel."

Swallowing hard, the girl said, "All right…"

Ogre went to a cabinet on one side, opened it, and took out Laura's deck. He took a Duel Disk from the other side, loaded the deck into it, and slid it through the cage bars. The girl picked it up and strapped it on.

Taking another Duel Disk out of the cabinet, he strapped it on his own arm and turned it on. "I hope you like rodents," he said.

"I don't, but since I'm not going in the pit, it doesn't matter," Laura answered as her own Duel Disk activated.

"We'll see!"

Both Life Point counters rose to 8,000.

"I'll start us out," said Ogre. "I summon one monster in Defense Mode and set a card facedown. That's my turn."

Laura drew her opening hand and smiled at what she had gotten. "I'll start with Sasuke Samurai in Attack Mode!" she declared.

A miniature samurai with an oversized head and large eyes rose into view, drawing a katana off of his hip. (500/800)

Ogre's eyes narrowed behind the holes in his mask. He knew what the monster could do.

"When this monster attacks a facedown monster, the monster thus attacked dies instantly," Laura noted. "Sasuke Samurai, attack with High-Velocity Wakazashi!"

The little samurai set one hand on his sword, and then blurred for a moment. A large pig-man with a boulder tied to a stick appeared for the briefest of moments, and then shattered into pieces. (2,000/500)

Laura's jaw dropped. "You actually played a Boar Soldier?"

"I have my reasons," Ogre grunted.

Shaking her head, the girl concluded, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Ogre drew his next card, studied the field for a moment, and then said, "I summon Flash Assailant in Attack Mode!"

A one-eyed bandit with a knife dropped from the ceiling, flipping his weapon over in his hand. (2,000/2,000) Suddenly, he turned and glared at Ogre before sinking to his knees, breathing heavily. (2,000/2,000 – 400/400)

Once again, Laura shook her head. "Remember Flash Assailant's effect?" she said. "For each card in your hand, it loses 400 Attack and Defense Points. You have four cards in your hand, so your monster's helpless."

In response to this, Ogre merely chuckled. "Easily solved," he said. "I just have to set two cards facedown, and your little swordsman is in deep trouble…"

Two face-down cards shimmered into view, and the Flash Assailant grinned wickedly, lifting himself off the floor. (400/400 – 1,200/1,200)

"Flash Assailant, attack the Sasuke Samurai!" Ogre yelled. "Flash Blade!"

The Assailant leapt to one wall, stuck to it for a second, and then sprang at the Sasuke Samurai.

"I activate my trap," Laura countered, "Ready for Intercepting! This switches him to facedown Defense Mode!"

The Sasuke Samurai switched into Defense Mode,and was facedown forjust seconds beforethe Flash Assailant stabbed it in the throat.

"Bah," Ogre muttered. "I end my turn, then."

Laura drew and thought, _I could steamroll his Flash Assailant, but that would be just begging for him to trip a facedown card. It's more likely he just wanted to shrink his hand and power the Assailant, but why risk it?_ "I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in Attack Mode!" she announced.

The elven swordsman stepped out, checking his blade's edge under the dim light of the prison. (1,400/1,200)

"I'll set this facedown," she said, doing so, "and that'll be it for my turn."

Ogre drew, grunting as the Flash Assailant weakened by 400 points. (800/800) "I summon Susa Soldier in Attack Mode," he said.

A white-haired young man with a glowing sword materialized, bouncing it on his palm. (2,000/1,600)

"Now…" Ogre continued. "Since I know I can't kill that elf with either of my monsters, I'll use a Magic Card we call Brain Control. For 800 of my Life Points, I can brainwash your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian – and so I'll do so!"

Ogre's Life Points fell to 7,200, and a mysterious brain hovered over the field. It blasted the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian with electricity, and his eyes fogged over before he staggered to Ogre's field.

"And before we forget, my Flash Assailant gains a few more Attack Points from that move, too," he noted. Indeed, the fiendish bandit was licking his knife in anticipation. (1,600/1,600)

Finally, the muscleman yelled, "Get her!"

"Negate Attack!" Laura yelled back, frantically hitting a button on her Duel Disk.

An invisible shield flashed between the two duelists, and Ogre's monsters couldn't get past it.

Grunting once again, Ogre muttered, "All right, I end my turn, which sends the Susa Soldier back to my hand – it's a Spirit." As he said it, the soldier vanished in a jolt of lightning, weakening the Flash Assailant, and the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian returned to Laura's field, shaking his head. (FA: 1,200/1,200)

"Welcome back among the sane, OCG," Laura said, casting a snide glance in Ogre's direction as she drew. "Now I summon Marauding Captain, in Attack Mode!"

An old, scarred soldier marched onto Laura's field, crossing his swords in front of him and concentrating. (1,200/400)

Suddenly, to Ogre's surprise, the captain whistled. Next to him appeared a very strange man – he wore silvery armor and green fabric, and his whole head was hidden but for his eyes and blue topknot. He carried twin kunai. (1,800/1,000)

"When I summon the Marauding Captain," Laura explained, "he can summon out any othermonster of Level 4 or less I have in my hand. Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke fit that bill perfectly." She paused for a moment, biting into her lip, and then ordered, "Sasuke, attack the Flash Assailant with Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The ninja weaved his fingers together and shut his eyes. Suddenly, there was ten of him on the field at once. The ten ninjas leapt into the air and came down on the Flash Assailant at once, slicing him to pieces. Once the job was done, all but the original Sasuke disappeared, and the original leapt back to Laura's field.

Ogre hissed as his Life Points sank to 6,600.

"Attack directly, Marauding Captain!" Laura then ordered.

In response, Ogre tripped one of his facedown cards. "Did you really think these were just bluffs? Activate Draining Shield, negating the attack and healing me for an amount of Life Points equal to that monster's Attack Points!"

A bizarre shell of light with a metal circle on the front surrounded the muscled duelist. The Marauding Captain's swords clashed on the circle, which then sucked in his blades and hands. As the warrior struggled, the machine sucked power out of him, washing Ogre in a brilliant light and raising his Life Points to 7,800.

Eventually, the shell released the Marauding Captain, who limped to Laura's side of the field, wincing somewhat.

_I could nail him with my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, _Laura thought, _but he's still got two facedown cards. Odds are good I wouldn't get away with just healing him…_ The girl just glared at Ogre as she huffed, "I end my turn."

Behind his metal mask, Ogre snickered as he drew his next card – a sound that was just plain _wrong_ coming from a man of his size and physique. "I've almost got what I need to smash you into the ground," he said, "but first I need to play this Magic Card, Pot of Greed."

The evil-looking pot floated in front of Ogre as he drew two cards.

It was impossible for Laura to gauge whether her opponent was satisfied with his draws, given how his facial expression was concealed, but he didn't seem disappointed.

"Now I set a card facedown…" Ogre did so. "…and invoke the special ability of my Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast. By cutting its Attack and Defense points in half, I can summon it without a tribute, and so I will!"

A creation that appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a giant tank in the form of a dragon rolled onto Ogre's field. It had two massive guns where a normal creature would have eyes, and two more stuck out on either side of its body in place of arms. It exhaled smoke. (2,800/2,000)

Suddenly, however, it retracted its guns and lowered its head. (2,800/2,000 – 1,400/1,000)

Laura just stared at it. "That thing won't stand a chance against any of my monsters now," she said.

"Oh?" Ogre replied. "Did you forget about the Marauding Captain? I'd _have _to attack it, so I will anyway! Fusilier Dragon, attack it with Shock Scream!"

The Dragon snapped its head out and let loose a loud cry, unleashing a sonic burst that tore the Marauding Captain to pieces. Laura's Life Points slipped to 7,800.

"That's my turn," Ogre concluded.

As soon as Laura drew her next card, she had a plan in mind. "I start with my Magic Card, the Warrior Returning Alive, to add Marauding Captain to my hand…"

For a moment, the Captain appeared, confused and disoriented. On recovering, he walked into Laura's hand.

"Next," she continued, "I'll summon him again in Attack Mode!"

The old soldier strode onto Laura's field again, swords over his shoulders, and let out a sigh. (1,200/400)

As before, he whistled, and another monster appeared. This one was a young woman in bright red clothing, wearing a red beret and black cape, with a golden sword on her hip. She knelt in Defense Mode. (1,200/1,900)

"Meet the Command Knight," Laura went on. "She gives all my Warrior-type monsters 400 extra Attack Points!" (1,200/400 – 1,600/400; 1,800/1,000 – 2,200/1,000; 1,400/1,200 – 1,800/1,200; 1,200/1,900 – 1,600/1,900)

Taking a deep breath, Laura ordered, "Marauding Captain, destroy the Dual-Mode Beast with Rampant Charge!"

The captain clashed his swords and charged across the field towards the weakened machine…

And then Ogre let out a loud, victorious laugh and said, "You stupid little bitch! I activate Skill Drain!"

The trap lifted, revealing a picture of the Dark Ruler Ha Des suffering from some form of disease. A massive shockwave rolled over the field, hitting every monster in play. The Marauding Captain stumbled over his own feet, but kept charging at the Fusilier Dragon…

…but behind him, the Command Knight had passed out. All of Laura's monsters were back to their original Attack Points.

Meanwhile, the Fusilier Dragon glowed with power, and its cannons emerged once again, locking onto the Marauding Captain. (1,400/1,000 – 2,800/2,000)

"Skill Drain?" Laura yelled. "Oh, no!"

Ogre laughed once again, saying, "You know exactly what to expect now, don't you? My Skill Drain saps all monsters in play of their effects, leaving your warriors as helpless as can be… but my Fusilier Dragon benefits from this arrangement, because its 'effect' actually weakens it! Skill Drain removes that and restores its power, all for a miniscule cost of 1,000 Life Points."

Ogre's Life Points sank to 6,800 as he said this.

"And in case you haven't noticed," the muscleman finished, "your monster's still attacking mine…"

The Marauding Captain finally reached Ogre's machine, and brought both of his swords down on it. They bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. The warrior grinned sheepishly.

The Fusilier Dragon apparently didn't find it funny, which would explain why it proceeded to let loose with its cannons and reduce the Marauding Captain to his component atoms.

Laura's jaw dropped as her Life Points hit 6,200. "I switch my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke to Defense Mode and end my turn," she said after a moment. Both monsters knelt.

"Huh," Ogre muttered "Allow me to explain the difference between 'effect' and 'drawback'. An effect is a power that makes a monster stronger – for example, all of your warriors would be useless without effects. A drawback, on the other hand, makes a monster less powerful – the Boar Soldier's a prime example of that; he has to be Special Summoned or Flip Summoned, and he's helpless with monsters on the opponent's field.

"Skill Drain is a godsend to monsters with drawbacks, and that's why I've got a deck full of them – when I've got Skill Drain out, they're so powerful it's almost broken!"

Laura then sighed and noted, "But without it, you're a sitting duck."

"Nothing's perfect unless you're cheating!" Ogre protested. "Besides, my Flash Assailant held you off for a while there, didn't he? I draw!" He did so. "I summon Susa Soldier in Attack Mode again!"

Once more, the white-haired soldier stood on the field, brandishing his glowing sword. The wave of energy from Skill Drain hit him, and he smiled evilly. (2,000/1,600)

"Thanks to my Skill Drain," Ogre continued, "not only does he stop coming back to my hand, but he deals his full Battle Damage instead of cutting it in half as usual. Susa Soldier, attack the Ninja Grandmaster!"

Lifting his sword, the soldier paused for a moment, and then zapped across the field, slicing the ninja's head off with one strike.

The muscleman then ordered, "Fusilier Dragon, destroy the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! Dragon Barrage!"

Taking aim, the dragon tank fired all four cannons and blew the elf to pieces.

"I end my turn," Ogre concluded.

Laura drew and sighed. "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

"Not so tough now, are you?" Ogre mocked, drawing a card. "You're gonna have so much fun in the rat pit…" He looked at his hand, and then held up what he'd just drawn. "You know, this is gonna cost me in the long run, but I can't help it. Come on out, Shadowknight Archfiend!"

A demon stepped down from above, clad in heavy metal armor and with a long blade extending from one gauntlet; the other exposed several jutting claws. A pulse of energy struck him from the Skill Drain, and he snarled. (2,000/1,600)

There was a stutter in Laura's voice as she asked, "D-do you still have to pay for its cost?"

"Unfortunately… yes." Ogre sighed through his mask. "There's a difference between a 'drawback' and a 'maintenance cost'. Shadowknight Archfiend loses his damage-cutting drawback, but I still have to pay for his upkeep – and he lost that nifty anti-targeting effect, too, which is why he's pissed at me." He shrugged. "Still, you're in deep trouble, because I activate Meteorain!"

One of Ogre's facedown cards flipped up, revealing the Enraged Battle Ox surrounded by falling meteorites.

"No!" Laura cried.

Ogre grunted, "Just accept the pain, girl. All my monsters will get at your Life Points this turn, because Meteorain lets them damage you through defense! Shadowknight Archfiend, attack her facedown monster with Diabolic Honor!"

The demon blurred out of existence, and then blurred back in on the other side of the facedown monster. A Blade Knight rose out of the card, let out a cry of pain, and fell to the ground, sliced in two. Laura's Life Points fell to 5,800.

"Susa Soldier," Ogre now ordered, "destroy the Command Knight!"

Again, the lightning spirit zapped past the Command Knight, beheading her. This time, however, he stopped to bounce her decapitated head on his blade before Ogre shot him a stern look. Humphing, he set the head down and skulked back to Ogre's field. Laura's Life Points were now at 5,700.

After a moment's pause, Ogre nodded. "Fusilier Dragon, blast her Life Points directly with Dragon's Barrage!"

All four of the cannons trained themselves on Laura. The girl looked for a place to hide, but she was still in the cage.

The four cannons let loose, and she went hurling into the back of the cage, her Life Points diving to 2,900. Laura didn't notice, however, as she was briefly knocked senseless when her head hit the wall.

"Game's almost over, you little bitch," Ogre growled, suddenly developing a sinister edge more suited to his frame. "Bet you're regretting your little wager now, huh?"

His target couldn't hear a word of it.

**0000000**

As the '87 Corolla GTS hurled its way through the streets of St. Paul, Chad glanced to Gerald. "I think we're almost there… Gerald?"

His companion had fallen asleep once more, which didn't surprise Chad in the least.

Glancing back to the road, the tall man muttered, "Sometimes I think you do more when you're sleeping than when you're awake…"

On top of Gerald's deck, Heaven's Sphere began to glow.

**0000000 **

"_Back on your feet."_

_Laura looked up, but her vision was still a little blurry due to whacking her head on the cage. "Why should I?"  
_

_Her conversational partner answered, "Because the duel's not over yet. I've only met you once, but you don't seem the type to give up so easily. I don't think I'm that bad a judge of character."  
_

_After a moment, the girl said, "You're not. I've never surrendered. I can't."_

"_See?" The other person offered a hand._

"_I can get up on my own," Laura said, slapping the hand away._

_The other person sighed. "Not anymore. You're in a situation where relying on just yourself isn't an option. Try to get up…" _

Laura tried, and the floor crumbled around her hands, causing her to drop back down. "What's going on?" she asked.

"_It's called illustrating my point." The other person offered a hand again. "Accepting assistance is not weakness – fighting it when there's no reason is. Now, shall we go out and deal with the masked fool?" _

After a moment, Laura took the hand and rose to her feet. Her eyes cleared, and she could see her new companion. "Hey, aren't you…"

"_We'll meet again outside of your mind soon enough." The person smiled, and then yawned._

_The world returned to its usual state…_

**0000000**

"Are you back among the living, or do I have to break out the damn smelling salts?" Ogre growled.

Laura shook her head, and the world snapped back into place around her. "Hey, I'm not used to ramming my head into hard, immobile objects," she shot back. "Give me a break."

Ogre lifted his mask only slightly, spat, and grunted, "My turn ends."

Taking a deep breath, Laura held it, drew her next card, and exhaled. She then looked at it and said, "I play Pot of Avarice! Now by shuffling these five monsters from the Graveyard back into my deck…" She slid the five monsters in her Graveyard out of it and back into her deck. "I draw two cards!" She did so.

"So?" Ogre asked. "It's just wasting our time."

"Not so!" Laura countered. "I summon Zombyra the Dark!"

A spotlight shined onto the field, and the inhuman superhero leapt down from nowhere, posing with a flourish in front of Laura. The Skill Drain pulsed, but he merely laughed. (2,100/500)

"You know, I've seen a lot of superheroes in my day," Ogre commented, "but that's gotta be the weirdest one I've ever heard of. I mean… well, come on! Look at him! I've got one in my _deck_ and I still think he's weird!"

Laura grinned as she replied, "He has a nobler history than that. You see, Zombyra's one of my favorite monsters. He used to serve the Dark Master Zorc, drawing on his master's dark energy to fuel his power. But one day, he killed an innocent man at Zorc's orders and was suddenly overcome with remorse. Zombyra couldn't accept what he'd done, and turned his back on Zorc and his darkness."

"Is there a point to this story?" Ogre asked.

"The point," Laura continued, "is that without that dark energy, Zombyra's ultimately screwed. Every time he destroys an enemy, he loses 200 Attack Points. On top of that, the day he left Zorc's service, the Dark Master cursed him to never strike his true foe – he can't attack you directly. Or those _would_ be the cases…"

Ogre suddenly yelled, "Argh! My damn Skill Drain works on _him_, too!"

Laura nodded. "Exactly. Zombyra, attack the Susa Soldier with Noble Fist!"

The hero charged forward and slugged the Susa Soldier hard in the stomach. A ripple of energy burst out from him, tearing the soldier in half and blowing him away. Ogre's Life Points fell to 6,700.

"I set a card facedown and end my turn," Laura finished.

Ogre let out a growl low in his throat, drawing a card and staring at it. _Where the hell are my big guns?_

The Shadowknight Archfiend suddenly growled and clenched his claws. Ogre choked as the demon turned and slammed his claws into his body, drawing out a red energy. "That would be the 900 Life Points I have to pay for my Archfiend…" he managed to mutter after a moment, his Life Points now at 5,800.

The muscleman then slid a card into his Duel Disk, saying, "I set a card facedown… and now, Fusilier Dragon, tear that hero a new one with Dragon's Barrage!"

The dragon tank trained its cannons on Zombyra…

"I activate my own Draining Shield!" Laura shouted, triggering her facedown card. "This turns your attack into extra Life Points, in case you forgot!"

A shell of light surrounded her and her monster, just like it had Ogre earlier in the duel. All four of the cannon's shots hit the metal circle, and Laura was bathed in an unearthly green light. Her Life Points rose to 5,700.

"You little slut!" Ogre roared, his composure long since gone. "I end my turn!"

"Calm down before you pop a blood vessel." Laura drew her next card. "I play my Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards…" She did so. "And now I'm going to break a certain rule about superheroes and weapons. I equip my Zombyra with the Axe of Despair!"

The superhero held out his hand, and the wicked axe fell into it. He tested its heft for a moment, and then grinned. (2,100/500 – 3,100/500)

"Before you can do anything," Ogre said, "I activate Threatening Roar, which prevents you from attacking!"

The Fusilier Dragon let out a high-pitched squeal that caused Zombyra to stumble to one knee, clutching where a normal human would have had ears.

"Fine, then. I end my turn," Laura said.

Ogre drew his next card and uttered a series of vile curses under his breath. _Was I actually winning this duel a few turns ago?_

As on the previous turn, the Shadowknight Archfiend spun around and gouged into his chest with his claws, sending Ogre's Life Points to 4,900.

"I switch both of my monsters into Defense Mode, and set another monster in Defense Mode" he grumbled. The Fusilier Dragon settled its head on the ground, and the Shadowknight Archfiend glared at him as he knelt; they were joined by a third, concealed monster. "That'll be my turn."

Laura drew, and then said, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Mode!"

The armored knight stepped up to Zombyra's side and nodded. The dark hero nodded back, and then a pulse of energy from Ogre's Skill Drain struck Gearfried. He merely shrugged. (1,800/1,600)

"Now," Laura continued, "I equip him with every warrior's favorite weapon – the Fusion Sword Murasame Blade! And I don't think I need to tell you how Skill Drain benefits my Iron Knight…"

Instead of picking up a sword, both of the blades on Gearfried's arms grew to excessive lengths. (1,800/1,600 – 2,600/1,600)

"Now, Zombyra, attack Fusilier Dragon!" Laura ordered. "While I'm at it, Gearfried, Iron Edge the facedown monster!"

Pulling back his arm, Zombyra threw his axe across the field, causing it to slice the dragon tank in two. Even as it exploded, the Iron Knight dashed up to the facedown monster and chopped it (a Nuvia the Wicked) apart. Zombyra caught his axe again, and the two monsters grinned to each other.

"That'll be it for me," Laura said.

Ogre drew, and then let out a groan as Shadowknight Archfiend struck him with his claws once more, drawing out his energy and dropping his Life Points to 4,100. "Oh, man…" He then paused, looking at his cards, and chuckled slightly. "This'll do. I play Emergency Provisions, giving up my Skill Drain and my face-down Fairy Meteor Crush to gain 2,000 Life Points!"

The bizarre mouth appeared, destroying both of Ogre's cards and raising his Life Points to 6,100. A pulse of energy flew from his destroyed Skill Drain, causing all three monsters on the field to stagger and groan…

However, Gearfried's blades did not return to normal.

"What?" Ogre shouted. "Why didn't that tin can's Fusion Sword break? It destroys all equipping cards!"

"The Fusion Sword Murasame can't be destroyed," Laura calmly explained. "It's the one Equip Magic Card that Gearfried can use even _with_ his drawback."

_Oh, come on…_ Ogre groaned mentally. "Fine, then. I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

Laura drew, smirking slightly, and declared, "I summon another Sasuke Samurai in Attack Mode!"

Another miniature samurai strode out, drawing his blade. (500/800)

"Remember this guy's effect?" the girl said, gloating only slightly. "If you don't, you're about to. Attack his facedown monster, Sasuke Samurai!"

The samurai drew his blade, took a step forward, and vanished. A moment later, the facedown Big Shield Gardna on Ogre's field appeared and shattered. (100/2,600)

"Zombyra," Laura continued, "dispatch the Shadowknight Archfiend!"

The superhero tossed his weapon, cleaving the fiend in half lengthwise. Ogre began to sweat, even as Zombyra let out a groan and his Attack Points lowered to 2,900.

"Gearfried," Laura finally ordered, "attack his Life Points directly with Iron Edge!"

The iron-clad warrior charged forward and slammed both blades into Ogre's body, causing him to roar in pain as his Life Points dropped to 3,500.

"That's my turn," Laura concluded.

Ogre drew, taking a few deep breaths, and said, "I'm not dead just yet, bitch. I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode. Try to get past that…" His cards appeared before him.

Even as Laura drew, she knew it was over. "I drew Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke again," she said, "so I summon him once more!"

Again, the heavily-concealed ninja stepped out, wielding his kunai. (1,800/1,000)

"Now, Zombyra," Laura ordered, "forgive me… destroy his facedown monster!"

Ogre gasped and thought, _My plan is ruined! I'm so screwed! _"Activate Widespread Ruin!"

Even as Zombyra wound up for the throw, he suddenly exploded.

With a sigh, Laura ordered, "Sasuke Samurai, you do it."

The miniature samurai swung his blade, cutting Ogre's Dark Elf in two. (2,000/800)

Finally, the girl commanded, "Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, Gearfried, finish the duel!"

The two needed no prompting. First, Sasuke launched his ten selves into Ogre, dropping his Life Points to 1,700. Gearfried finished the job with one swing of his blades, plunging the muscleman's Life Points to zero.

After a moment, Ogre shut off his Duel Disk and took it off, taking a small key out of his pocket. "I suppose letting you out for a few minutes isn't too bad…" he said.

But as he neared the cell door, Laura counted off seconds in her head – and then kicked the door, hard. It swung out and slammed Ogre between the door and the cage wall.

As the door swung back, Ogre staggered forward, growling, "You backstabbing little bitch! I think I'll beat you unconscious and _then_ throw you in the rat pit for that one!"

Before he could move much further, however, Laura was on him, and her attacks came faster than his eye could follow. It was as if she kicked him in the head, chest, and stomach simultaneously.

The muscleman staggered, whereupon Laura thrust a palm into his stomach. He gasped and recoiled, and Laura moved under him, lifting him over her head and slamming the masked man to the floor.

After that move, he made the smartest choice he'd ever made – he passed out.

"Never call me a bitch," Laura said, dusting off her hands. She stretched out and began to look for an exit.

After a few minutes, she found the one door out… but it was locked from the outside. _Probably Father Young's doing,_ she thought. _I searched Ogre's pockets, and all he had was my cell key. Damn it._

She pulled her leg back and was about to kick the door down when the sound of someone unlocking it from the outside caught her ear.

A second later, the door opened, and two men were standing in the doorway. One was tall, had brown hair, and was wearing an all-gray ensemble; he leaned against a wall. Laura knew she'd seen him before. The other was slightly taller, blonde, and was dressed like Humphrey Bogart.

"Please do not hit us," the one against the wall said. "We had thought you needed rescuing, but from the looks of things… not so much."

The taller one glanced to his companion and muttered, "Watch it, Gerald."

"Actually," Laura said, "thanks for opening the door. I kind of doubt I could kick it open. So… what's going on in this city?"

The one leaning against the wall, Gerald, yawned and said, "It's a very long story. Come back to the hotel with us and we'll explain it there."

Laura stopped to consider it. Sharing a hotel room with two guys sounded a little too much like the sort of movie that played after midnight on cable channels, but she didn't have anywhere to stay otherwise… and they _had_ come to bust her out of her imprisonment…

…and then she recognized Gerald. It was the person she'd seen after hitting her head on the wall.

"All right, it's a deal," she answered.

Gerald smiled, said, "It's settled, then," and then shut his eyes. A moment later, to Laura's amazement, he fell asleep.

"Does he do that often?" she asked.

"All the time…" the taller man answered, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

**0000000**

That evening, Ogre found himself in the heart of the Darkness's lair. However, he could not appreciate the sight; he was currently kneeling on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, and a very disappointed Degas stood in front of him.

"Thomas 'Ogre' Grunn," Degas began. "Ex-bodybuilder, ex-bouncer, currently employed as a servant to the Darkness. Your transgressions are many – ignoring orders, accepting an unauthorized challenge, using an unauthorized deck strategy – an interesting one, but unauthorized nonetheless…" He then swung his foot around, kicking Ogre in the stomach. "What in the name of the Darkness were you _thinking,_ including an Archfiend in that deck?"

"I thought I could win before the damage got too much," the muscled man protested once he got his breath back.

"I doubt you thought at all," Degas muttered. He grabbed Ogre's mask and wrenched his servant's head up. "Most recently, you allowed our captive to escape. She was vital for one of our plans, and you let her get the drop on you. Now our plan is severely delayed, at best."

"How was I supposed to know she was trained in the martial arts?" Ogre complained.

Degas answered, "You could have _asked_ – we know these things for a reason!" He then took a breath and continued, "Your most unforgivable offense, however, is the repeated questioning of and lack of faith in your masters. You keep voicing the opinion that Alexander has no role in our plans. That's just not allowed, Ogre."

Struggling against his bonds, Ogre asked, "Why didn't you just tell us what Alexander's purpose is? It's not like it can be that big a secret!"

"If the information fell into the hands of the Light, it may prove disastrous," Degas replied. "However, I will tell you just to silence your complaints…" He paused. "I can manipulate dark energies, but I cannot create them myself. Alexander is a Dark Conduit, a portal through which dark energy flows. When he is present, I have energy to work with. Without him, I would not have had the chance to create the Dancing Mad, the Darkness Infection, or any of our other weapons. He has… other powers, as well, but you need not know them."

Ogre fell silent.

"Not that it would matter, anyway," Degas concluded. He snapped his fingers. "Hanzaki!"

The air blurred, and the man with the concealed body emerged, bowing to Degas. "Yes, sir?"

As he stepped out of the room, Degas said, "Deal with him."

The room fell silent for a moment, and then Hanzaki reached into a concealed pocket, hidden behind the symbol on his chest. When he withdrew his hand, he was holding a handgun and was already undoing the safeties.

Ogre looked to it and muttered, "A Beretta 9000S Type F9… So, this is it. Can you really shoot a helpless man?"

Hanzaki pulled the Beretta's slide back, set it to Ogre's temple, and said simply, "Yes." He then pulled the trigger.

_And before anyone asks, I know the "real" story of Zombyra. But 1) they called him "Zombire" in the manga, which could mean it's a different character, and 2) I prefer my version._

_Coming next chapter: Gerald finally gets the answer to a question that's nagged at him since the beginning of his journey. At the same time, however, a new Pillar's hit the streets. Chad ends up dueling the first of this Pillar's creations, an utterly depressing figure whose deck doesn't care if its monsters die. Things get unpleasant in Chapter Ten, "Walking in Gloom"… _


	11. Walking in Gloom

_**Ever run into someone whose purpose in life seems to be to suck the joy out of the lives of everyone else around them? People like that are like walking black holes, bending all the happiness in their vicinity towards them and draining it away. They never give any back.**_

_**When I first met Gerald, his eternally-tired way of carrying himself and his uninterested style of speech made me think he was one of them. Then I realized he just couldn't exert the energy to care, and we wound up friends.**_

****_**  
My current opponent, on the other hand, is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. He treats everything like it's just another burden the universe dumped on his shoulders, and I'm really tired of it…**_

_**Time to brighten things up.**_

**Chapter Ten: Walking in Gloom**

As night began to fall on the Twin Cities, Degas and Alexander stood in front of the easternmost of the four pillars, shards of obsidian from the pillar that had held Jean-Vic Viper still at their feet. Neither man spoke as the cracks finished spreading.

The pillar shattered, releasing a young woman with long hair that was raven-black on one side and blonde on the other. She fell into their waiting arms, breathing heavily.

After a moment, the woman regained her feet, setting one hand to her chin. She chuckled slightly, and the odd element about her chuckling was that it sounded less like someone's laughter… and more like a computer simulation of a laugh.

"So," she said, her voice having a metal edge to it, "I presume that fool Pillar of Destruction was defeated?"

"Exactly, my dear Menardi," Alexander said in reply. "The most recent Chosen of the Light faced him in battle, and although our mutual friend came close, he didn't _quite_ succeed." His expression soured. "In this game, near-success is still failure. It is time for the next Pillar to take her turn."

Menardi smiled, one unnaturally-sharp fingernail sliding across her cheek. "Anything specific?"

Degas pushed his sunglasses up, shaking his head. "We'll trust your judgment for now. Just don't fail… unless you want to see what happened to Jean-Vic."

The woman stepped back a bit, nearly stumbling over a piece of obsidian. She then bowed. "I won't fail you, sirs," she said.

"Don't," Alexander said. "I do not wish to think that the Pillar of Terror is no stronger than the Pillar of Destruction." He clapped twice. "Hanzaki!"

The air blurred, and soon the silver-clad man appeared behind Menardi, who glanced over one shoulder and sneered. The red symbol on his chest had an unusual mark at its center that was both new and unpleasantly fresh-looking.

Degas smiled and said, "Take her to our safe house."

After a moment, Menardi sighed, resigned to the mode of transportation. "Touch me and I remove the part that made contact," the woman hissed.

In response, Hanzaki merely chuckled. "I have no need to," he replied.

The air blurred, and both the Pillar and the servant vanished.

Once the man in black and the man in green were alone, Degas snapped his fingers, summoning a glass of champagne. "Do you think she'll fair any better?"

"Destruction is far too straight-forward and unsubtle to trust," Alexander said in reply, rubbing one of his temples. "If you want to ensure victory, you need something less obvious. Terror should qualify…"

**0000000**

At the Minneapolis Hilton, in a well-kept suite, Gerald Laxina and Chad Montmelier – the new Chosen of the Light and his first ally – were currently faced with a riddle.

The riddle was posed by the newest member of their group, Laura Vesnic, until recently the hostage of the Darkness. The young woman had quickly grasped the situation concerning the Darkness Infection and the Pillars of Darkness – that was no problem, and she'd readily understood why this was all so serious.

No, that wasn't a problem. The problem was answering her question: "There are only two beds. Who gets the couch?"

After a few tense minutes of discussion, Gerald finally said, "I'll take the couch."

"You sure?" Chad asked.

"Let's save the beds for people who can actually sleep at night," he replied.

After a moment, Laura snickered and said, "You mean you _can't_? You fell asleep leaning against a wall… and in the car on the way back here… and in the lobby after you sat down… and…"

"Yes," Gerald said, sighing. "I can sleep every time and every place except in my bed at night. It's slightly frustrating."

Laura's laughter stopped, and she merely smiled. "Well, at least insomnia's the least of your worries."

"Point taken."

Chad had removed himself from the discussion and was currently raiding his luggage, saying, "I call the showers first." Once he'd found his toiletries bag again, he stepped into the bathroom, leaving Gerald and Laura alone.

Now alone with the girl he'd worked to save for the past two days, Gerald took a deep breath and said, "I will now ask the million-dollar question."

"No, I don't know why they kidnapped me," Laura replied.

"That was the bonus round," Gerald continued. "The question I was going to ask is this: what does the word 'Kanlon' mean to you? I heard it during that first vision before any of this happened, and it's bugged me since."

Laura took her own deep breath and answered, "It's probably got nothing to do with you, but my older sister's fiancé is named Walter Kanlon."

Gerald raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of him. What sort of person is he?"

Laura began, "Until about three or so years ago, he was a real jerk. He was cruel to everyone, even my sister – she was planning on leaving him if he didn't shape up. On top of that, he was a duelist, and he was one of the most irritating guys in the circuit. He wouldn't stop making fun of you if you lost, and a lot of people quit the game just so he couldn't taunt them anymore.

"Three years ago, though, he entered a major tournament and made it to the final round. In the finals, he faced this very quiet guy – I can't remember the guy's name or deck, sad to say – and was utterly squashed. It was a total shutout.

"Right after the duel, Walter called my sister and apologized for the way he'd acted all that time. She was surprised – and even more surprised when he turned out to be totally sincere. She kept waiting for him to change back, but it never happened.

"In fact, Walter Kanlon was a different person after that shutout. Now he's a guy you'd _want_ to duel – he's the nicest guy I know. My sister never wanted to leave after that; they got engaged a year ago, and she's never regretted it."

"An interesting story," Gerald pondered, "but I can't see why the Light would tell me about some strange man who had a change of heart. Can you think of anything else odd about him?"

Laura gave it some thought, the sound of Chad in the shower acting as white noise. Finally, she snapped her fingers. "Yeah, there is. It was maybe five years ago, back when my sister and I lived in Pittsburgh."

One of Gerald's eyebrows rose. He had lived in Pittsburgh himself five years previous.

"Back then, Walter Kanlon played your usual Yata Lock – this was back before Yata-Garasu was completely banned – and he was facing this guy with a monster-based direct damage deck," Laura continued. "He wiped the floor with his opponent, and the other duelist didn't take it very well. He screamed, 'I'll never duel again!' at the top of his lungs, took the deck off of the console – this was before Duel Disks were big – and threw it to the floor."

Both of Gerald's eyebrows were up.

After a moment, Laura added, "If memory serves me, there was this other guy who was asleep on a bench. He woke up when Walter's opponent started screaming, and the deck landed at his feet. So he hooked a foot around it, pulled it over to him, and started rifling through the cards…" She stopped and looked at Gerald. "Wait, was he…"

"That would be how I got my first deck," Gerald answered, nodding. "Suddenly, I understand why the Light told me about Walter…"

He paused, and finished, "It's because of him that I'm a duelist."

The silence that followed was long, awkward, and only ended when Laura turned on the room's television set. The resulting cacophony led to Chad, clad only in boxer shorts, storming out of the bathroom. A massive argument then erupted…

"Chad, please try to calm down…"

"No! I refuse to spend all evening watching 'The Manly Man Yelling and Dropping Heavy Things Hour'! It's like applying a jackhammer to your sense of culture!"

"Come on. It can't be that bad…"

**_"THEY'RE MANLY AND THEY'RE DROPPING THINGS!"_**

"Perhaps it can be. But still, we just broke her out of a Darkness-owned prison cell. There are worse things she could be watching."

"Name one!"

"Would you two be quiet? They're about to drop the refrigerator!"

"That's it! I'm going for a walk!"

**0000000**

Soon the hour turned very late, and the three managed to reach some sort of agreement as to what was off-limits concerning use of the room's television. Laura was curled into a small ball under the blankets of one bed; Chad sprawled over the other; and Gerald stared at the ceiling while lying on the couch, tapping his foot on the armrest.

_So the meaning of "Kanlon" is Walter Kanlon, a duelist of previously questionable character who was responsible for my entrance into the game of Duel Monsters,_ he thought. _But what makes him so important? Sure, to have a change of heart that full-blown is unusual, and he and I have a fairly interesting connection, but why did the Light draw my attention to him?_

_Hold it… Laura couldn't remember who Walter's opponent was in that last duel that apparently caused his turnaround. Perhaps his identity is the key – and if I can learn who that was, I could find a valuable ally… or an important enemy._

Gerald smiled, his resolve strengthened. _That's the key. I need to discover who defeated Walter that day…_ The smile vanished. _But without any leads at all, that'll be a trial._

Meanwhile, three figures walked the streets of the Twin Cities by night.

Sol Kilkarn stood over an unconscious young woman… a woman who had hosted the Darkness Infection until about ten minutes previous. He made her comfortable, shuffled his deck, and put it away, saying to himself, "That's one less person to go after Gerald and the others …"

A ball of fire leapt from rooftop to rooftop several blocks away, as if looking for something.

And Menardi was out of the safe house, making her way to four specific addresses…

**0000000**

With the coming of dawn, Degas and Alexander resumed their positions in front of the mirror array. Both men settled into their seats, and Degas waved his hand towards the mirrors.

Several different images came to life on their surfaces, and both men murmured their approval.

"I see Menardi was busy last night," Alexander said. "She's already arranged for a few challenges for the Chosen of the Light. The question is which one to send first…"

Degas, meanwhile, had conjured up the black orb known as the Dancing Mad and was examining it closely. After a moment, he turned to Alexander and said, "The Dancing Mad sent out a gift last night. One of the facets is missing."

"Which one?"

Degas spoke four words aloud.

Alexander let out a low whistle. "Who's got it?"

Looking over the mirrors, Degas gestured to one in particular. "He does," he said.

Shutting his eyes, Alexander sent a mental message to Menardi: _We've got a little plan for you…_

**0000000**

After breakfast the next morning, Gerald Laxina, Chad Montmelier, and Laura Vesnic headed out of the Minneapolis Hilton; Chad and Laura were ready and eager, while Gerald was, as usual, nursing a massive cup of coffee.

In a change from his usual preferred attire, Chad had eschewed dressing as a time period for now; he was wearing a gold-striped blue shirt and dark pants. He still stood out, though, as no change of clothing hid his stick-insect physique. Laura had finally gotten a shower, and she looked very nice in a green sweater and blue jeans. Gerald, of course, was still clad entirely in grey.

To their surprise, there were people on the street, a surprising number of them. Granted, the number was still smaller than usual, but given how deserted St. Paul was, seeing so many people in its partnering city was a bit of a shock.

"I guess the news about St. Paul never reached them," Chad said after a moment.

Gerald sipped his coffee and replied, "Either that, or they don't think it will happen to them. You think this city would be evacuated after what happened at the Walker Arts Center."

"What happened there?" Laura asked.

"A Darkness Infected named Caiside Bahn attacked the center, infected several people, and challenged us to defeat him; he threatened to kill his victims if we didn't. Chad defeated him soon enough."

The three headed for their car, but were stopped by a voice saying, "Greetings."

A quick examination of the area showed the voice's source – a man standing nearby. Said man was dressed all in black – black shirt, black pants, black shoes. He was slightly shorter than Gerald, and the fingers on both hands were unusually long. His hair was black and unkempt. The oddest feature, however, was the mask he wore – it was full-face, porcelain, and blank white but for two black "tears" panted onto it. The mask had eyeholes, a nose, and lips sculpted into a permanent scowl. For lack of a better word, he was a Goth.

Both hands and his neck (what could be seen of it) showed the same marks of the Darkness Infection as the others Gerald and his allies had encountered, and a Duel Disk hung on one arm.

"Greetings to you," Gerald said. "I presume your employers want you to duel us…"

The man sighed. "Indeed. But I don't want to bother. Dueling you and defeating you would only be assisting the inevitable."

"Inevitable?" Laura asked.

"Darkness will consume this world eventually. All you're trying to do is stretch out the torture of being alive a little while longer."

Chad stepped in front of both Gerald and Laura, activating his Duel Disk. "I'll handle him," he whispered, before turning to the masked man and saying, "People like you make me ill. Let's just duel and get this over with."

The man groaned and activated his own Duel Disk. "Optimists… they disgust me."

"I'm not an optimist," Chad said. "I just hate depressing people."

Laura whispered, "Hard to see why you're friends with him."

Rolling his eyes, Gerald replied, "You and everyone else who've made that joke…"

As he slid his deck into place, Chad asked, "What's your name?"

The masked man replied with a poem:

"_As I was walking down the stair_

_I met a man who wasn't there_

_He wasn't there again today  
I wish that man would go away_

_I am not here_

_I am not there_

_Where I am_

_Is Neverwhere._ Call me Neverwhere."

"Neverwhere it is, then," Chad said.

Both Life Point counters went to 8,000, and the duel commenced. Gerald slid into position on the Corolla's hood, and Laura joined him.

"I'll begin this," Chad said, drawing his opening hand. He glanced to it and said, "I start with one monster in Defense Mode and one card facedown. That'll be my turn."

Neverwhere adjusted his mask and sighed. "This world is a dark and lonely place," he muttered. "I draw…" He did so, and said, "I set one monster in Defense Mode, and then play the Continuous Magic Card known as Soul Absorption."

Both cards came into view as he said so.

"What does that do?" Chad asked.

Neverwhere sighed, and then shook his head, saying, "Every time a card's removed from the game, I gain 500 Life Points. I set a card facedown and end my turn."

_So it would be in my best interest to keep from removing cards from the game unless I have to,_ Chad thought as he drew. He then said, "I summon my Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode!"

The snarling, blind beast walked out and growled at Neverwhere. (1,900/1,400) Neverwhere glared at it, and the dog took a step back.

Slightly unnerved, Chad still ordered, "Mad Dog of Darkness, attack Neverwhere's facedown monster!"

The dog ran forward and tried to bite into the monster in question… but a searing aura of light drove it back. Neverwhere's monster then solidified – it was a disturbing head with two clutching hands, sticking out of the mud. (500/2,000)

After a long, drawn-out exhalation, Neverwhere said, "When will you learn never to trust what you can't see clearly? That monster you see before you is the Earthbound Spirit, and his defenses are too much for your mutt."

Chad scowled as his Life Points moved to 7,900. "I end my turn with that," he said.

Neverwhere's hand flicked over his deck, and he glanced at the card he had drawn. "I summon Maryokutai in Attack Mode," he said.

The skull with a glowing brainpan floated in front of its summoner. (900/900)

"Next," he said, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Laura and Gerald looked to Neverwhere's field, Laura asking, "Why would he play something like that in Attack Mode with Chad's Mad Dog of Darkness out?"

"Maryokutai has a very interesting effect," Gerald answered, "one that makes Chad's next move important. It all comes down to what he does before he attacks next turn… assuming those facedown cards aren't game-changing…"

As Chad drew, he set up a plan in his head. "I start by playing Graceful Charity!" he announced.

Gerald groaned. "Oh, he fell for it…"

Neverwhere's expression didn't change as he declared, "I will activate the effect of my Maryokutai. By ending its pitiful life, I can use the power contained in it to negate and destroy your Graceful Charity. Prove there's some use for you, Maryokutai…"

The skull glowed brightly and shattered, unleashing a bolt of energy into Chad's Graceful Charity and obliterating it.

"Insulting your monsters is gratuitous, Neverwhere," Chad said. "Isn't it weak enough not to deserve mockery?"

Neverwhere's eyes narrowed. "Why shouldn't I mock it? Its only purpose is to die. That's the case with almost every monster in this deck."

The artist raised an eyebrow. "A deck of sacrificial lambs?" he said. "That's rather pessimistic…"

"Optimism pisses me off. Now make your move."

Chad shrugged and said, "I summon Pitch-Black Warwolf in Attack Mode and end my turn." The snarling werewolf with a sword appeared next to the Mad Dog of Darkness. (1,600/600)

Neverwhere drew, saying as he did, "There is one other use for my Maryokutai." He then slid it out of his Graveyard, saying, "I'll remove it from play to Special Summon the Aqua Spirit."

The skull appeared translucent for a moment, and then reshaped into a beautiful, green-skinned woman with long, flowing green hair. (1,600/1,200)

Neverwhere's Soul Absorption unleashed a wave of glowing blue lights, which flowed into his body and raised his Life Points to 8,500.

"Now I activate my Destruction Ring," Neverwhere continued, "disposing of my Earthbound Spirit to inflict 1,000 Life Points of damage to both of us."

A ring with a bomb on its top appeared on the Earthbound Spirit's finger. Desperately, it shook its hand, trying to get the ring off, but the ring exploded and sent pieces of it flying everywhere. Neverwhere's Life Points sank to 7,500, and Chad's went down to 6,900.

"And now that it's in the Graveyard," Neverwhere continued, "I'll remove it from play to bring out my Rock Spirit."

For a moment, the fiend appeared on Neverwhere's field, and then it too reshaped into another monster – this one a large man, apparently carved from stone, clad in armor and helm and wielding a mace. (1,700/1,000)

Again, the Soul Absorption card released its blue lights, raising Neverwhere's Life Points back to 8,000.

Laura suddenly caught on. "I get it now!" she said. "The reason he needs his monsters in the Graveyard is to bring out his real monsters – he's running a deck of Element Spirits!"

"That explains Soul Absorption" Gerald pondered. "Every time he removes a monster from play to bring out a spirit, he pads out his Life Points as a bonus."

Pointing at Chad, Neverwhere ordered, "Rock Spirit, attack the Pitch-Black Warwolf with Earth Might."

Raising his mace in the air, the Rock Spirit called out in a voice like an avalanche. Rocks rose around him, and he ordered them forward, where they crushed the werewolf under their weight. Chad groaned as his Life Points moved to 6,800.

"I'll end my turn with that," Neverwhere declared.

Chad drew a card…

Neverwhere suddenly said, "Aqua Spirit, do your thing." The spirit raised her hands, and a burst of water hit Chad's Mad Dog of Darkness, soaking it and sending it to its knees.

"What did you just do?" Laura asked.

After another sigh, Neverwhere said, "During Chad's Standby Phase, my Aqua Spirit can switch the mode of one of his monsters. It has to stay that way for the rest of the turn."

After a moment, Chad looked over his cards and said, "I play the Field Magic Card Forest, boosting my Beasts!"

All around them, trees pushed their way through the streets, surrounding the duelists and the spectators with a cavalcade of green. The Mad Dog snarled in approval. (1,900/1,400 – 2,100/1,600)

"Next," Chad continued, "I summon the Berserk Gorilla in Attack Mode!"

A rampaging gorilla knocked down a tree in his frenzy to get on Chad's field. He spat flames and beat his chest, howling. (2,000/1,000 – 2,200/1,200)

"Berserk Gorilla, attack…" Chad began.

Before the artist could finish, Neverwhere gestured to his Rock Spirit, which was glowing with power. "During your Battle Phase," Neverwhere said, "my Rock Spirit gains 300 Attack Points." And indeed, it was at 2,000 ATK.

"Fine," Chad said. "Attack the Aqua Spirit!"

The gorilla charged forward, pulling his fist back…

"I activate Covering Fire," Neverwhere announced. "My Rock Spirit now gives support to the Aqua Spirit, raising her Attack Points by its own Attack score." (1,600/1,200 – 3,600/1,200)

The Rock Spirit moved in the Berserk Gorilla's path, intercepting his blow and catching the Gorilla off-guard. As the confused ape tried to move past the Rock Spirit, the Aqua Spirit unleashed a massive waterspout, blowing away any evidence the Berserk Gorilla was ever there.

Chad blinked twice as his Life Points dropped to 5,400. His hands both showed signs of the Darkness Infection now. "I set one card facedown and end my turn," he concluded.

Neverwhere drew his next card and played it, declaring, "I activate my Pot of Greed." He ignored the hologram of the evil jar, instead just drawing his two cards. "I set one monster in Defense Mode and…" One finger tapped his mask as he considered.

"Well?" Chad asked.

"You have two facedown cards out and you expect me to attack? How foolish are you? I'll merely end my turn."

Chad seethed, drawing another card. _He has no facedown cards, and during his Battle Phase, his Rock Spirit isn't powerful enough to touch me. I'd have to really be a fool to attack that face-down monster, though, since he has no trouble throwing his monsters away for an advantage… _"I switch my Mad Dog of Darkness back into Attack Mode," he began, "and set one monster in Defense Mode. Mad Dog of Darkness, sic the Aqua Spirit!"

With a roar of satisfaction, the Mad Dog grabbed the Aqua Spirit in its jaws and thrashed her against the ground until she shattered, reducing Neverwhere's Life Points to 7,300.

"That'll be my turn," Chad said.

The Goth merely shrugged, drawing as his turn began. "I'll begin by switching my Sonic Jammer into Attack Mode," he said.

His facedown monster became visible – a mechanical beetle with bright green wings. (350/650)

Suddenly, it vibrated its wings rapidly, creating a massive burst of sound that caused Chad, Laura, and Gerald to each clutch their ears and recoil. Neverwhere didn't seem to mind it at all.

"What manner of creature makes my ears bleed?" Gerald muttered.

"My Sonic Jammer," Neverwhere calmly answered. "When it's flipped, its sonic burst prevents my opponent from playing Magic Cards until the End Phase of the next turn. So in other words, his Magic Cards are sealed until his second turn after this one. But since my own Magic Cards aren't affected, I play Spirit Elimination."

The air around Neverwhere took on a dark bluish hue.

Chad raised an eyebrow and asked, "And that does…?"

Even as he took the Sonic Jammer off of his Duel Disk, Neverwhere answered, "Until the end of this turn, I remove monsters on my field from the game instead of from the Graveyard. So I'll remove the Sonic Jammer to bring out Garuda the Wind Spirit."

The Sonic Jammer vanished, replaced by a bird-headed man with massive wings. (1,600/1,200) Meanwhile, Neverwhere's Soul Absorption pumped more energy into him, raising his Life Points to 7,900.

"I will end my turn with one card facedown," Neverwhere concluded.

_Man,_ Chad thought as he drew, _neither of us are getting anywhere in this duel. He has the lead, but he can't get past my monsters…_ He looked at his card. _Oh, sure, I get this _now – _I can't use it until that Sonic Jammer's effect wears off!_ "I could attack, but given your facedown card, I'll just pass," he said.

"In that case, Garuda's effect activates," Neverwhere said. "I may switch the mode of one of your face-up monsters during your End Phase. You only have one, so…"

The bird-headed man flapped his wings, forcing the Mad Dog of Darkness into Defense Mode… and then there was a loud scream, and all of Chad's monsters exploded into pixels.

Laura and Gerald both blinked. Chad, on the other hand, was swearing venomously under his breath. Finally, the spectators looked to Neverwhere's field, where a trap had just gone off.

"Behold my facedown card, Tragedy," the Goth explained. "When one of your monsters is switched from face-up Attack Mode to face-up Defense Mode, it destroys all monsters in Defense Mode on your field – face-up or face-down."

"How utterly appropriate," Gerald noted.

Chad was on the verge of banging his head against the street. _Son of a… if I had attacked Garuda, I would have killed it, dealt him 300 points of damage, **and** saved my monsters from his Tragedy card!_

"My turn?" Neverwhere asked. Without waiting for an answer, he drew. "Oh, my…" he said. "I've drawn a card known as Specialty Shockwave. If the only monsters I have in play were Special Summoned, I can prevent you from activating traps during this turn. And since my monsters are both Element Spirits, which can only be Special Summoned…"

Chad braced himself.

"I play Specialty Shockwave," Neverwhere said, revealing a card with a picture of Valkyrion the Magna Warrior sending a bolt of lightning through a Mirror Force. (Gerald suddenly recalled an old duel of his.)

Both duelists watched as two balls of light left the card and sank into Chad's facedown cards.

"And with that done," the masked man continued, "Garuda, attack directly with Wind's Curse."

The bird-headed man called forth a massive tornado, circling Chad and lashing into him with biting cold winds. His Life Points dove to 3,800.

"Rock Spirit?" Neverwhere said quietly.

The Rock Spirit summoned forth his boulders, which slammed into Chad and dropped his Life Points to 2,100. Immediately, the marks of the Darkness Infection formed on his neck.

"That'll be it for my turn," the Goth said quietly. "But realize this – you're almost finished. What is there that you can possibly do to counter me?"

"For starters," Chad said as he drew, "this. Ever hear of Dark Hole?"

Neverwhere's eyes suddenly grew gigantic behind his mask.

Gerald dug his fingers into the bench he sat at, and Laura mimicked him.

A black hole opened in the center of the field, drawing in both of Neverwhere's monsters. They spaghettified as their bodies neared the center, and then both exploded into shards.

"How cheap can you get?" the Goth hissed.

Chad shrugged. "At least it's not Raigeki. Either way, next I play the card known as Blessings of the Hunted!"

Chad's card flashed into view, its artwork showing White Magician Pikeru surrounded by multiple bandaged Scapegoats.

"If I have at least five Beast, Winged Beast, or Beast-Warrior monsters in my Graveyard," Chad explained, "I gain 2,500 Life Points, and so I do!"

A group of Scapegoats surrounded the tall artist for a moment, bathing him in golden light as his Life Points rose to 4,600.

Gerald tilted his head. "Haven't seen him use that one before," he said.

"Really?" Laura asked. "Given how you two have worked together, I'm surprised you don't know each other's decks by heart."

"The first night we were here," Gerald replied, "we both promised not to look through each other's decks. That way, if one of us became a Darkness Infected, we wouldn't have an advantage against the other."

Chad smiled, and continued, "Next, I summon Chiron the Mage in Attack Mode!"

The armored centaur trotted out, hefting his orb-topped staff. (1,800/1,000 – 2,000/1,200)

"Chiron," Chad ordered, "attack Neverwhere directly!"

Raising his staff overhead, the centaur let loose with a bolt of magic energy, slamming into the masked man and throwing him to the ground. Neverwhere's Life Points plummeted to 5,900.

"That will be my turn," Chad concluded.

As the Goth rose to his feet, his mask came loose. He set one hand to it and groaned. "Must life be so harsh to me?"

Letting out a long, exasperated breath, Chad asked, "_What,_ exactly, went wrong in your life to make you complain about it? I seriously doubt you're messed up badly enough to warrant that mask!"

After a moment, Neverwhere growled, and then he grabbed his mask and pulled it away.

All three of the onlookers blinked.

Underneath his mask, Neverwhere was actually a handsome young man, although due to his Darkness Infection, his eyes were missing pupils and had black veins. His face was utterly unmarked – no scars crossed it, and nothing else even marred his visage.

There was a long pause, and then Laura asked, "So why are you wearing that mask? I mean, you're perfectly fine without it…"

Putting the mask back on, Neverwhere replied, "I have my reasons." He then drew a card, hissed, and said, "I set this in Defense Mode and end my turn."

_Okay, he's another nutjob, just like that Caiside guy,_ Chad thought. _That monster he's got facedown is either another strong defender, like his Earthbound Spirit from earlier, or an effect monster that he can remove for an Element Spirit. Either way, attacking it would be to his benefit._ He drew.

Neverwhere adjusted his mask and said, "Well?"

"I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," Chad muttered.

The Goth drew his next card and glanced to it. "I start with Graceful Charity. I'll draw three cards and discard two…" He did so. "Next, I'll flip my Morphing Jar into Attack Mode."

The grinning jar with one eye appeared on Neverwhere's field. (700/600) Immediately, it reached out with a wicked tongue, grabbing the cards away from both duelists and eating them.

"What just happened?" Laura asked.

Gerald looked at her with a pitying expression, finally sighing and saying, "You're telling me you've never seen a Morphing Jar before?"

The girl glared and said, "Some of us don't have the money to buy one, and nobody ever used one against me."

"Fine, fine," the lazy duelist said, shaking his head. "When it's flipped, both duelists have to discard their hands and draw five cards."

Laura thought for a moment, and then said, "But why would Neverwhere bother playing Graceful Charity beforehand? It just cost him two extra cards!"

"_That,_" Gerald replied, "is a very good question."

Ignoring the spectators, Neverwhere continued, "I now play A Feather of the Phoenix – by discarding one card from my hand, I may place one card from my Graveyard on top of my deck. I'll choose Pot of Greed." He slid Slipheed into his Graveyard.

From above him, a feather descended onto his Duel Disk, shining and causing the Pot of Greed to slide out of the Graveyard. He took the card and set it on top of his deck.

_His moves make no sense,_ Chad thought.

"And now…" Rather than finish that sentence, Neverwhere held up one card from his hand.

The card had a black border.

Gerald and Chad both gasped. Laura, however, was merely confused. "Why does that card have a black border?" she asked. "Real cards don't have those…"

"It's a Card of Night," Gerald answered. "Pure darkness in card form. And I seriously doubt it's anything pleasant."

"Oh, it's not," Neverwhere said. "It's a card called Screams from the Beyond. For every card in my Graveyard, I now get to inflict 100 Life Points of damage to my opponent. And there are thirteen cards in there, so he's about to take 1,300 points of damage. Try not to scream too loudly, Mr. Montmelier…"

As the card activated, the wind picked up around Chad. At first, the artist didn't think anything of it, until he heard something in the wind – quiet at first, but then growing louder and louder, until it was an ear-shattering cacophony so loud it could be heard from outer space.

He did not scream. There was no time.

A whirlwind erupted from Neverwhere's Duel Disk, specifically the Graveyard slot, and tore its way across the field. Before Chad could react, the wind – actually the screams of a thousand tortured souls – grabbed hold of him and pulled him skyward, tearing at his skin and clothes. It was all he could do to keep his hands over his ears.

"Oh, dear God," Gerald whispered.

The attack carried on for several moments, and then the whirlwind dissipated, dropping Chad ignobly to the parking lot. His Life Points now sat at 3,300. This did not matter, however; somewhat more importantly, he was a twitching, babbling wreck, lying prone on the ground.

"That was less than I'd thought it would do," Neverwhere said, examining Chad's current state. "The last three people I used this card on were dead before they hit the ground. He's tough."

Laura choked for a moment before whispering, "Dead?"

The Goth shrugged, saying, "Life is a waste of time. There's really no difference between dying from Screams from the Beyond and dying in your sleep."

At that point, Chad let out a cough and forced himself onto his knees, breathing hard. "I suppose… I'll get to find out if that's true," he said, taking a few deep breaths.

Neverwhere stumbled backward, catching himself. "How did this happen?" he said, gasping. "How are you sane, let alone alive?"

Chad gestured to one of his face-down cards, which had flipped up to revealing a winged woman in a nurse's outfit. "Numinous Healer went off," he said, his breathing back under control. "I get back 1,000 Life Points when my Life Points are damaged..."

The winged woman helped Chad back to his feet, stroking his face with one glowing hand and raising his Life Points to 4,300.

Regaining himself, the masked man said, "There are several costs to Screams from the Beyond. The first is that I must skip my Battle Phase; the second is that I must now remove both Screams from the Beyond and every card in my Graveyard from play. That makes fourteen cards…"

Gerald groaned, putting his head in his hand. "And he still has Soul Absorption in play, and it counts every last card separately. That's fourteen times 500."

Having stopped swaying, Chad groaned as well. "I hate being good at math – that's 7,000 Life Points."

The Soul Absorption let loose a massive torrent of energy, which flowed into Neverwhere's body. His Life Points shot to 12,900.

"There is one more cost to pay, the dark cost to the Card of Night," Neverwhere finished. "I must now forfeit a single positive memory; I will forget it and may never get it back." He paused. "But I have no positive memories, so that cost means nothing to me."

"How can anyone go through life without positive memories?" Laura asked, furrowing her brows.

Again, Neverwhere took off his mask, revealing the fairly attractive face under it. "I don't wear this mask because of my looks," he said. "I wear it because otherwise I have to see myself in the mirror… and realize I don't know who I'm looking at. I have no positive memories because I don't _have_ memories."

Gerald, Laura, and Chad all caught on at once. The three simultaneously paled.

"Remember my little poem?" the Goth continued. "To refresh your memory, the second verse read like this:

_I am not here_

_I am not there_

_Where I am_

_Is Neverwhere._"

"Ah," Gerald said. "I get the picture now. You're never anywhere because you can never remember being there. You're an amnesiac."

Neverwhere nodded, donning his mask again. "The last thing I remember is being slapped across the face by a hysterical blonde woman and smacking my head against a railing. After that, nothing. That was a month ago, and I still haven't got anything back." He sighed. "Perhaps if I destroy the three of you, I can get a lead as to who I am."

"Step one is defeating me," Chad interrupted, "and our duel is still underway."

"Ah, yes." Neverwhere glanced to his cards again. "I'll sacrifice my Morphing Jar for a monster facedown, and then remove it from my Graveyard to Special Summon Gigantes, in Attack Mode."

Even as the Morphing Jar vanished, replaced by a facedown monster, it appeared briefly before transforming into a large, orange-skinned giant with a horn on his forehead, wielding a tree trunk. (1,900/1,300)

Once again, Soul Absorption activated, sending a ball of energy into Neverwhere's body and raising his Life Points to 13,400.

"That will conclude my turn," Neverwhere finished.

_Oh, man… Even if I'm lucky, this will take a good, long while._ Chad drew, which put his hand at six cards, and thought for a moment. _Hold on… I think I have a few answers here._

"I start," Chad began, "with my Heavy Storm, destroying all of our Magic and Trap cards – I'll lose my Forest and Negate Attack, but it's worth it to get rid of that damn Soul Absorption!"

The wind picked up, a much calmer wind than the Screams from the Beyond, and soon developed into a full-blown hurricane. Both Soul Absorption and Chad's Negate Attack went flying over their heads and shattered into a thousand pieces, and all of the trees were ripped from the ground by the roots.

"Without that to worry about," Chad continued, "I'm free to remove your facedown monster with my Nobleman of Crossout!"

The nobleman hovered over Neverwhere's facedown monster. He drew his sword and impaled said monster, a Labyrinth Wall, causing it to blur out of existence.

As the monster disappeared, Chad held up his next card. "Now I'll use Monster Reborn to bring back a monster I discarded to your Morphing Jar – a monster known as Big Koala!"

There was a quiet moment as the holy symbol of the Monster Reborn glowed overhead, and then a gigantic koala sat on the field. It was at least twenty feet tall, and it easily dwarfed Neverwhere's Gigantes. It looked down at the Goth, and he shivered in response. (2,700/2,000)

Taking another card, Chad slapped it onto his Duel Disk, declaring, "Since that was a Special Summon, I'll bring out another Mad Dog of Darkness to keep my koala company!"

Another of Chad's blind, snarling dogs came out, growling as it sniffed the air. (1,900/1,400)

"There isn't any Magic or Trap cards in play, so your monster's effect is pointless. Big Koala," Chad ordered, "demolish Gigantes!"

The koala rose to its feet, stretched, and then stepped down, crushing the Gigantes beneath one mammoth foot.

Neverwhere merely shrugged as his Life Points dipped to 12,600.

"Mad Dog of Darkness, attack him directly!" Chad now shouted.

The dog charged forward and clamped onto one of the masked man's legs, but Neverwhere showed little reaction. "This means nothing," he said as his Life Points reached 10,700. "It means absolutely nothing."

Laura glanced to Gerald and said, "He's starting to remind me of you."

"That was uncalled for," Gerald said, eyes narrowing.

As the Mad Dog returned to his field, Chad concluded, "I end my turn with that."

Neverwhere drew, instantly playing the drawn card with a call of, "I play Pot of Greed again." He drew two more cards, glanced at them, and then smiled. "And it's over."

"What did you draw?" Chad said, taking a step back.

Dropping the card on his Duel Disk, Neverwhere took off his mask and held it overhead, screaming, "The almighty Gren Maju Da Eiza!"

The world turned red around the duelists and their audience, and from this red cloud emerged a being that could only be called inhuman if you were feeling generous. It had a bulbous body, with a ridged bone structure along its frame. Two massive wings rose from its back, and a long tail whipped behind it. Its skull-like body was crowned with six horns, and evil green lights glowed throughout its body. It looked at Chad with a hate sharpened by years of otherworldly existence. (?)

"So that's the true point of his deck," Gerald muttered. "Gren Maju Da Eiza is the Red Lotus Beast, the creature that feasts on the souls banished from the afterlife. For every monster Neverwhere removed from play, it gains 400 Attack and Defense Points…"

"And I removed eleven," Neverwhere finished, putting his mask back on. "Feed, Gren Maju Da Eiza! Feed on the lost souls!"

The creature raised its arms, and a flood of lost souls poured from the red sky. They flowed into its body, and Gren Maju Da Eiza shut all of the green lights on its torso, letting out an unearthly murmur of satisfaction. It then clenched its fists, and a burning green aura surrounded its body. (4,400/4,400)

"Now go, my mighty one," the Goth demanded. "Strike down the Mad Dog of Darkness with Void Incarnation!"

Gren Maju Da Eiza raised both hands and opened the green lights, looking to Chad's monster. It gestured with one hand, and suddenly the dog let out a low whimper. A green light outlined it, and it rose into the air.

The vicious being gestured with its other hand, whereupon the Mad Dog of Darkness began to struggle. Slowly and inexorably, its body began to pull apart at the seams, each bit disappearing into nowhere.

And then Gren Maju Da Eiza made an imperceptible motion with its hands, and the Mad Dog of Darkness snapped out of existence. Chad actually had to check to make sure it was in his Graveyard and not the removed from play pile, even as his Life Points went to 1,800.

Chad glanced to Gerald, and his friend's reaction made it clear the veins in his eyes were pitch-black now.

"Accept your fate, Chad," Neverwhere said. "You will become fodder for the Red Lotus Beast in due time. For now, my turn ends." _Even if you try to stop me,_ he thought to himself, _I will pierce your defenses on the next turn._

_Come on,_ Chad thought to himself, drawing another card. He let out a sigh of relief, saying, "I play my own Pot of Greed."

He then added, "My fate is not something you can control, Neverwhere. I begin by playing Polymerization, fusing my Des Kangaroo and my Big Koala…"

Gerald dozed slightly, up to the point where Laura nudged him in the ribs.

"…to form the Master of Oz!" Chad finished.

The green-skinned boxing kangaroo appeared in front of the Big Koala, and they blurred into one being. When the blur cleared, it was a gigantic, green-furred cross between the upper body of a koala and the legs and tail of a kangaroo, with boxing gloves and a small dab of eye makeup. It took a few practice jabs. (4,200/3,700)

"Not enough," Neverwhere said, raising his mask enough to give an evil smile.

Chad frowned in reply. "That wasn't all. Next, I summon the Enraged Battle Ox in Attack Mode…"

The axe-wielding minotaur strode up beside the Master of Oz, growling. (1,700/1,000)

"And then I play Wild Nature's Release on my Master of Oz, adding its Defense Points to its Attack Points at the cost of its destruction when my turn ends!" he continued.

The Master of Oz's muscles bulged, and it slammed both fists together. (4,200/3,700 – 7,900/3,700)

Neverwhere dropped his mask and began to whimper.

"Master of Oz, let him have it with Ayers Rock Haymaker!" Chad declared.

Striding up to the Gren Maju Da Eiza, the Master of Oz feinted to the left. The creature fell for it, moving to its left… only to receive a thunderous right cross to the head. The blow slammed it into the ground hard enough to dent the street, obliterating it.

Now chewing on one lip, Neverwhere crossed himself as his Life Points moved to 7,200.

"Finally," Chad declared, "I use De-Fusion to split the Master of Oz into its component Big Koala and Des Kangaroo parts again."

The Master of Oz vanished, replaced by its pieces.

"Get him, my menagerie!" Chad called out.

The Big Koala stepped forward and stepped on Neverwhere, causing him to cringe as his Life Points dropped to 4,500. Next, the Des Kangaroo punched him in the abdomen, sending him to 3,000, and finally the Enraged Battle Ox rammed its axe into his stomach, causing him to collapse as his Life Points sank to 1,300.

"That's my turn," the artist concluded.

_How…_ the Goth thought, reaching for his mask. He didn't quite have the stamina to get to it. _How did he draw just what he needed?_ Giving up on his mask, he drew, and then whimpered again. "I set one card facedown and…"

Chad gestured to his Enraged Battle Ox.

_Defense or no defense…_ Neverwhere realized. _I'm sunk._ "I remove Gren Maju Da Eiza from the game to summon the Spirit of Flames in Attack Mode," he said.

The burning humanoid hovered over its master, looking crestfallen at its impending fate. (1,700/1,000)

"My Spirit of Flames gains 300 Attack Points in my Battle Phase," Neverwhere said. "So I'll attack Des Kangaroo with Flame Geyser…"

The spirit called forth a tongue of fire, immolating Chad's Des Kangaroo and dropping the artist to 1,300. Chad didn't seem to notice.

Curling into a ball, Neverwhere muttered, "Please don't kill me!"

"Sorry," Chad said as he drew. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card."

A whirlwind struck Neverwhere's Widespread Ruin and destroyed it.

"Big Koala," Chad ordered, "attack the Spirit of Flames."

The eucalyptus-munching beast stepped on the flaming creature, extinguishing it and dropping Neverwhere to 300 Life Points.

"Take him down easy, Enraged Battle Ox," Chad concluded.

The minotaur strode over to the cowering Goth, picked him up by the collar, and then dropped him onto his mask, shattering it as his Life Points hit zero.

The holograms faded, and Neverwhere passed out as the Darkness Infection left his body. His removed-from-play pile shined for a moment, and then a ball of darkness fled it, heading off into the sky.

Moving Neverwhere's unconscious form into recovery position, Chad said, "Maybe once you wake up, you'll stop being quite so depressing." He then headed back towards the car, limping slightly.

As he'd expected, Gerald was fast asleep on the hood, coffee still in one hand. The taller man bent over his friend and slapped him, causing him to wake up. With a yawn, Gerald sat upright and sipped his coffee. "Good work."

Laura looked to Gerald again, and then to Chad, asking, "Does he do that every time?"

"It's kind of like a victory celebration," Chad answered. "So, where to now?"

Before anyone could answer, there was a rustling behind Chad. Laura looked over his shoulder and gasped, causing him to turn around.

Neverwhere's unconscious form rose as if suspended on puppet strings, limbs dangling limply from his sides. His head rocked forward, and he spoke – but not in the voice he'd used before. In fact, it was a woman's voice, with a steel edge to it.

"I'd expected more from this toy," the voice said, Neverwhere's arms raising and dropping dismissively. "Ah, well… it was fun seeing people fall before the Screams from the Beyond, but nothing good can last."

"So, do you work for Degas and Alexander?" Gerald asked (Laura noted that he winced on saying Alexander's name). "Or is there another source of darkness in town?"

"You may call me Menardi for now," the voice said through Neverwhere. "I serve the Darkness through its leading men… and let me tell you, they're fine-looking men…"

Chad groaned. "I never need to hear that coming from another man's lips for as long as I live."

The female voice laughed, shaking Neverwhere like a rag doll to visualize the point. "Either way," it continued, "I want to play a little game with you. Come to Canterbury Park; another Darkness Infected is waiting. The game is simply a matter of whether you can defeat all five of my handpicked Darkness Infected before you fall. It began, of course, when you defeated Neverwhere."

"And if we don't want to play?" Laura asked.

In response, Neverwhere's body thrashed and blood dribbled out of his lips. "Then I kill him and start dueling to kill instead of to infect," Menardi's voice replied.

The three huddled at that point, briefly whispering amongst themselves, before Gerald answered, "The game begins, then."

"Canterbury Park," the voice said. "Don't forget…" Neverwhere's body collapsed to the street.

As the three duelists slid into the Corolla, Chad asked, "What's Canterbury Park?"

"A horse track and card club in Shakopee," Laura answered. "Ogre, one of the cell guards, once said he liked going there…"

"That's only seventeen miles away," Chad thought out loud. "They're sticking in the area for now, it seems. Buckle up."

And so they drove off.

**0000000**

Within the safe house, tucked away somewhere in the Twin Cities, Menardi merely smiled to herself. "Neverwhere's finished, but that was just the start of the game. The levels always get harder the further you get in…"

She turned to the dark mirror Degas and Alexander had lent her (its previous owner, unknown to her, was currently at the bottom of the Mississippi) and adjusted it to the next location. "Come along, my foes," she whispered. "I'm waiting for you…"

**SPECIALTY SHOCKWAVE**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: Valkyrion the Magna Warrior striking a Mirror Force with a bolt of lightning.

Effect: You may only activate this card if all face-up monsters you have in play were Special Summoned. Your opponent may not activate any Magic or Trap cards until the end of the turn.

**BLESSINGS OF THE HUNTED**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: White Magician Pikeru surrounded by bandaged Scapegoats.

Effect: You may only activate this card if you have five or more Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged-Beast monsters in your Graveyard. Increase your Life Points by 2,500.

**SCREAMS FROM THE BEYOND**

Type: Normal Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A man on his knees in a graveyard, screaming; all around him, heads are sticking out of the graves and screaming as well.

Effect: Deal 100 points of Direct Damage to your opponent's Life Points for each card in your Graveyard. After this effect resolves, remove this card and all cards in your Graveyard from the current duel. When you play this card, you permanently lose one positive memory.

_Note: The original version of this card was used by Seskera in jkBAKURA's "Yu-Gi-Oh: Lady of Dragons". That version may be used in other stories._

_Coming next chapter: Gerald is drawn into a high-stakes game against someone who definitely knows her way around the cards! Will he call her bluff, or will he have to cash in his chips? Who'll fold first? And how many more cheesy gambling jokes will I make? Find out in Chapter 11, "All or Nothing"!_


	12. All or Nothing

_**I once found myself with enough free time on my hands to research the dueling career of Joey Wheeler. And what I found proved to be very interesting: namely, that his fabled "Wheeler luck" has waned as time goes by.**_

**_In the Duelist Kingdom tournament, he placed second, right behind the King of Games himself, Yugi Motoh; in Battle City, he placed fourth. But in the recent KC Grand Prix, he was defeated in the second round (since there were only four rounds to the KC Grand Prix, that made it the quarterfinals by default)… because one of his luck-based traps failed him. (I've heard rumors that he also suffered a misfortune of fate during the Orichalcos incident a while back, as well.)_**

_**This, I decided, is proof that you can't always rely on luck. But I might have gotten that wrong. My current opponent based her deck around it, and she's doing quite well.**_

_**It doesn't hurt her that my own luck has taken a nosedive…**_

**Chapter Eleven: All or Nothing**

"Ancient Gear Golem, finish him off with Ultimate Pound!"

The resulting explosion reverberated through St. Paul, a loud declaration that Sol Kilkarn had won again. His opponent, an unfortunate young man who had stumbled across the Darkness Infection, rolled his eyes back in his head and passed out.

Sol shut off his Duel Disk, readjusted the chain around his neck (it had gone astray after a direct attack), and shifted the young man into recovery position before standing up. He then sighed.

It was one thing to seek to repay Gerald and company, but it was another to find a notable way of doing so. All Sol could think of as far as reparations was to duel every Darkness Infected he ran into – and while somewhat satisfying, and giving him something to point to as far as "How are you helping?", it was ultimately a shallow repayment.

"Besides," he said to himself, "if Gerald or Chad needed any help against these guys, I would've handed the latter his lungs when we dueled."

A sudden strong light passed over Sol's head, and he was forced to cover his eyes from the intensity. Once the light died, he could see a fireball in front of him – a fireball that turned into a man in a white suit, with pure white hair and gold rings on every finger on his right hand.

"So you're ze one who has spent his time taking down ze Darkness Infected," the man said in a light French accent. "I was wondering why so many newly Infected didn't last long."

"And you are?" Sol asked.

The man bowed. "I am Lucifer Allumette, ze Beloved of Flames. Don't bother asking what zat means. What is your name, monsieur?"

"Sol Kilkarn." There was a pause, and then the young man asked, "You haven't seen someone named Gerald Laxina recently, have you?"

One of Lucifer's eyebrows rose as he asked, "What business do you have with Monsieur Laxina?"

Sol looked at his feet. "I have to apologize to him. You see, I was one of the Darkness Infected… his friend defeated me and took care of that problem, but I still have to make up for trying to infect them in the first place."

"Ah. Ze last I saw of him, he was headed towards Shakopee."

"Thanks," Sol said, wondering how he was supposed to get out of town without any transportation.

As he turned to leave, however, the young man felt Lucifer's hand fall on his shoulder. He turned around, whereupon Lucifer took a photograph out of his pocket and held it up, saying, "By ze way… do you recognize zis, by any chance?"

Studying the picture for a moment, Sol shook his head.

"_Rien._" The man in the white suit sighed and concluded, "Zank you for your time, anyway." He then transformed into a ball of fire and launched into the sky, vanishing into the distance.

Left behind in the alley, Sol wondered what the odd man's story was.

**0000000**

The Corolla '86 GTS made its way along the strangely quiet roads between the Twin Cities and Shakopee. Chad was driving, as usual, and Laura and Gerald sat in the back, examining their respective decks. The two had agreed not to look at each other's cards directly (although watching their duels was still all right).

Gerald couldn't help glancing at Laura's deck at one point, however, and what he saw frightened him. _She plays warriors?_ he thought. _Oh, dear… warriors unnerve me. Their players are always so militaristic._

After a moment or two of silence, Chad finally sighed. "You know, Gerald," he said, "ever since that Klaus fellow tried to turn me into my own evil twin, my life's gone downhill. First I duel your old friend, then a crazy guy, and now I nearly get my neck broken by a Card of Night. I was better off in the hardware store."

"Nobody held a gun to your head and forced you to come with me, Chad," Gerald answered.

"Unlike me," Laura added.

Chad tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and replied, "Perhaps, but then why did I come with you in the first place?"

Gerald's expression turned confused, and he put his hand to his chin for a few moments before saying, "You know… I have no idea. You never told me. There's no logical reason why you had to come with me."

The car slowed to a crawl as Chad thought back. He then said, surprised, "You're absolutely right… _I_ don't know why I came with."

The rest of the trip was in silence, as Chad pondered why he'd disrupted his life so readily to risk his life alongside his friend.

In due time (it was a short trip, since Shakopee was only seventeen miles from Minneapolis), the car pulled in front of Canterbury Park. There were several other cars in the parking lot, but an eerie silence hung over the building.

As the three stepped out of their car, Chad narrowed his eyes. "This is just like when we arrived at the Walker Arts Center," he noted, "except without those people hanging from the statues."

"Be alert," Gerald said, more to Laura than in general. "We know there's a Darkness Infected here, but we can't be sure where."

"No need to tell me," Laura answered, holding up her Duel Disk.

"Good."

The three headed into Canterbury Park, and instantly recognized the handiwork of a Darkness Infected – there were three unconscious people in front of the card club.

Gesturing to it, Gerald said, "I'm guessing we'll find our target in there."

"What was your first clue?" Chad said, readying his Duel Disk.

**0000000**

Adjusting the mirror slightly, Menardi smiled as Gerald and his friends entered the club. "Foolish duelists," she whispered to herself. "Intelligent people would have turned and walked away when they saw how many people were down for the count. But then, you don't quite have a choice, do you?"

Snapping her fingers, Menardi watched the view change to the inside of the club, smiling wider. "Mmmm… if I were a betting sort of girl, I'd make the heftiest of wagers on my latest little puppet. Of course, she _is_ that sort of girl, so she'd be betting on herself…"

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander had divided their own mirror array in half. One half of the mirrors were tuned to Canterbury Park, while the other half was devoted to watching Menardi's actions.

"When we selected Pillars, we should have weeded out the sadists," Alexander said, sipping a glass of wine. (It was still fairly early in the day, but he didn't keep "regular hours".)

Degas shrugged, pushing his sunglasses back up on his nose. "So she's playing cat and mouse… since when has that sort of thing worried you?"

One of Alexander's eyebrows twitched. "She's far too much like the Shadow Queen this way."

On hearing that, Degas narrowed his eyes. "Good point," he said. "We'll have to keep a hand on the reins. After what happened to 'Her Majesty', we can't afford that sort of collapse. Besides…" He grunted. "We want to stay as far away from _that_ style as possible."

**0000000 **

The inside of the card club was just as chaotic as the outside. Multiple people were slumped over their tables, the Darkness Infection obvious on every last one of them.

As they made their way through the devastation, Gerald glanced at some of their hands. _Hum… Poor guy. He was sitting on a straight flush._

The three worked their way inwards – first past the poker tables, then past the blackjack tables, and finally to the newest fixtures in the club: the Duel Monsters tables. There were three, and the ones on the left and right were vacant – their inhabitants were out cold on the floor beside them.

At the center table, a young woman was shuffling a deck of playing cards. She had long brown hair, which flowed over both shoulders, and her eyes were hidden by a green bookie's visor. She wore a puffy-sleeved white blouse and a long, oversized red skirt – apparently going for the "Old West bar girl" look. Both hands and her neck showed the Darkness Infection.

Chad found himself admiring her outfit from an artist's perspective. _Come to think of it,_ he thought, _that's the one time period I have yet to copy._

Laura, meanwhile, groaned under her breath.

After a moment's further shuffling, the woman set the cards down and tilted her visor up, grinning. "Well, welcome!" she said. "Glad to see all three of you here – I'm a little spoiled for choice… The name's Alice Dulei, also known as 'Poker Alice'."

"I knew it…" Laura groaned. "I just knew it."

"Well, it is the name for female gamblers," Gerald noted. "So, will we be dueling or playing a hand of five-card draw?"

Alice smirked and pushed the deck of playing cards across the table. "The former," she said. "However, rather than choose one of you myself, I'll let the deck do the choosing. Each of you will draw a card – I'll duel the high card."

With a sigh, Laura turned over the top card of the deck. It was the four of clubs. She sighed again.

Reaching out, Chad drew the next card and held it up. "Nine of diamonds," he said. "I seem to be intertwined with the number nine recently…"

Finally, Gerald picked up the top card and looked to it. "King of clubs. Guess I'm up."

_I see I haven't lost my touch,_ Alice thought. _I knew he'd be the last to draw, so I made sure the third card would be higher than the first two._ "In that case," she said aloud, "take a seat – we'll be dueling on the table instead of the Duel Disks."

Chad and Laura moved to a side table and sat down as Gerald sat in front of Alice, taking his deck out of the Duel Disk. He set it on the deck slot, and the table lit up.

As Alice took out her own deck, Chad asked her, "So are you working for Menardi or her employers?"

"Column A and Column B," she replied. "She promised to put in a few good words for me with them if I won – and according to her, they can give me perfect luck. Can you imagine what that means to a professional gambler like me?"

"You can't believe they'll actually give you that," Laura said, even more disgusted than before.

Alice shrugged. "At least if I keep this up, I have some sort of hope." She stopped shuffling for a moment, and then sorted through her deck. _Ah, there it is – Menardi told me this would work._ She completed her shuffling and set her deck on the table.

"Shall we?" Gerald said, hand over his deck.

"We shall," Alice replied. "Let's duel!"

Both drew their opening hands, and the table's Life Point counters hit 8,000.

Taking a coin from her pocket, Alice said, "Heads or tails?"

"Tails," Gerald answered.

Alice flipped the coin, caught it, and looked at it. "Heads," she said, tucking the coin back into her pocket afterward. "I'll start."

_Probably a two-headed coin,_ Gerald thought, _but I like having the first attack anyway._

Looking at her opening hand, Alice sighed. "Not good," she said. "But then, with this little number, it doesn't have to be." She held up one of the cards she had drawn. "Magical Mallet will let me shuffle as many cards from my hand as I wish back into my deck – minus the Mallet, of course – and draw as many cards as I shuffled in. I'll do that for my entire hand!"

_I always hated that thing, _Gerald thought, scowling slightly.

The girl shuffled her hand back into her deck, drew five cards to replace it, and looked at her new hand. She smiled and said, "This is much better. I'll set one monster in Defense Mode, set a card facedown, and call that my turn."

Gerald looked at his opening hand and thought for a moment. "I'll begin," he said, "with my Messenger of Peace, which will prevent all monsters with 1,500 or more Attack Points from attacking… just for security's sake."

The messenger stepped onto Gerald's field, holding up his hand benevolently.

"Next," Gerald continued, "I'll summon an old friend to the field in Attack Mode. That would be your cue, Servant of Catabolism."

The cephalopod crawled onto Gerald's field, tendrils waving. (700/500)

Gerald smiled. "Defending monsters mean nothing to my Servant – it can always attack directly. Do so, Servant of Catabolism."

With a squishing noise, the bizarre creature sprang forward and dug its tentacles into Alice's skin, causing her to scream, "Eeeew!" Her Life Points sank to 7,300.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn," Gerald concluded.

From their seats near the table, Laura leaned over to Chad and said, "That's not the type of deck I thought he used…"

"He used to play Final Countdown," Chad replied.

"Ah."

"Would you two keep the comments to a minimum?" Gerald said, shooting a look at them.

Alice giggled, drawing another card. "Before I do anything else," she said, "I'll activate Dice Re-Roll."

Her trap flipped up, and a pair of red and blue dice appeared on either side of her head.

"Now I'll flip my Dice Jar into Attack Mode," she continued.

A crazy, googly-eyed jar with a long tongue bounced into view. (200/300)

Gerald was about to ask a question when he saw a golden die suddenly appear in front of him. He reached out and took it in his hand, noting that his fingers passed through it.

Across the table, Alice took a similar hologram out of the air. "When I flip my Dice Jar," she explained, "we both roll a six-sided die. If it's a tie, we reroll. Whoever gets the lower result takes damage to their Life Points equal to the winner's roll times 500… unless the winner's roll is a six."

"And if it is?" Gerald asked.

"The damage is 6,000 points," the girl answered. "Now roll, and hope it's not snake eyes!"

Gerald threw his die out onto the table, thinking, _Craps was never my game…_

Alice threw her die, and the two struck in mid-air, landing next to each other. Both were fours, and so the dice returned to their hands.

"Let's try this again," Alice said as she rolled her die.

Nodding, Gerald rolled his. His die came up a four.

Alice's came up a two.

"That's 2,000 Life Points you just lost," Gerald noted.

Shaking her head, Alice gestured to the dice near her shoulders. "My Dice Re-Roll trap lets me try one more time on the turn it's activated. Third time's the charm!" The red and blue dice slid themselves into Alice and Gerald's hands, respectively.

With a sigh, Gerald rolled one more time. This time, he rolled a one.

Alice, however, had rolled a three. "I win!" she declared. "Therefore, Dice Jar will now deal you 1,500 points of damage!"

The jar floated up to Gerald, extending its tongue to a crazy length. The tongue wrapped around him and squeezed his body five times, causing him to grunt audibly with each squeeze. When it was over, the jar retreated and he collapsed back into his chair, his Life Points dropping to 6,500.

"I don't lose the important gambles," Alice noted. "Now, to continue my turn, I set another card facedown and set another monster in Defense Mode. Your move again."

_I could destroy that Dice Jar,_ Gerald thought as he drew, one hand massaging his ribs, _but it's used up its ability. Best to keep hitting her directly and leave it as deadweight._ "I pay 100 Life Points for my Messenger of Peace…" His total lowered to 6,400. "And then I set one monster in Defense Mode. Servant of Catabolism, attack with Electric Tendrils."

Again the cephalopod threw itself across the field, its tentacles digging into Alice. She shuddered as her Life Points moved down to 6,600.

"That will be my turn," he concluded.

Drawing another card, the gambling girl sneered slightly. _The card that weird robot-voiced woman Menardi told me to use… now I see why._ "Now we'll see why I'm called Poker Alice," she said. "I play the Continuous Magic Card known as Lethal Stakes!"

A card shimmered into view, showing the Sand Gambler and Goddess of Whim playing blackjack against the Terrorking Archfiend, with blue lights instead of chips.

"Allow me to explain," she continued. "Lethal Stakes lets us bet our Life Points that we can do a certain amount of damage to the opponent. You name any number in an increment of 100, and if you do at least that much damage, you gain the amount of Life Points you bet. If you fail, then you lose that many Life Points. You can't wager under 100 or over double your Life Points. Sound simple?"

Gerald nodded, and then frowned, noting, "But that means all I have to do is say an amount slightly smaller than my monster's attack and I'll gain Life Points every time."

In response, Alice just shrugged. "Drawback, I guess. Next, I'll set this monster in Defense Mode, and set this card facedown. Your turn!"

Confused, Gerald drew another card…

…whereupon Alice yelled, "I activate Dust Tornado, letting me obliterate your Messenger of Peace!"

As the wind picked up, its currents grabbed the Messenger of Peace and flung him far into the distance.

_Ah,_ Gerald thought. "I summon the Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode," he said.

As usual, the little rabbit and its teleporter appeared on Gerald's field. (700/500)

"I suppose you see where this is going," Gerald said. "I think I'll bet 600 points on the Lethal Stakes. And to fill that… attack her, Inaba White Rabbit."

But even as the rabbit prepared to attack, Alice pressed a certain button on the table. "I activate the trap card known as Des Counterblow!"

Slamming both hands on the table, Gerald leaned forward and cried, _"WHAT?"_

Laura and Chad both sprang out of their seats, gasping.

The Inaba White Rabbit teleported over to Alice and struck with its hind paws, sending her Life Points to 5,900… but the instant it did so, a beam of light flew from the Des Counterblow, making contact with the little spirit and disintegrating it.

Sitting down again, Gerald slumped back into his seat, one hand to his forehead.

"Go ahead and keep attacking if you like," Alice said, a devilish smirk on her face, "but every monster that attacks directly will suffer the same fate. Des Counterblow, as you're well aware, is a Continuous Trap, and it obliterates every monster that attacks directly."

"Which means the entire offensive wing of Gerald's deck," Laura whispered, shivering.

Chad nodded, slightly pale. "If he tries to press the attack, he'll keep losing his monsters until he can bring that card down…"

Glaring, Gerald looked at his hand and muttered, "I still won my bet, so I gain 600 Life Points from Lethal Stakes." A set of glowing blue chips fell in front of him, and his Life Points rose to 7,000. "That ends my turn."

"Feeling down? You should have seen that coming. I'm Poker Alice Dulei, the queen of cards!" his opponent taunted. She drew her next card and played it instantly. "I'll activate the Continuous Magic Card known as Second Coin Toss!"

A foul-looking man in rich robes and red hat stepped out, holding a coin in his hand.

"Next," she continued, "I'll flip my facedown Jirai Gumo into Attack Mode!"

A massive spider crawled out, clacking its fangs. (2,200/100)

"I won't bother making a bet," she continued, "since I'm attacking your facedown monster. Now, for Jirai Gumo's drawback…"

A coin appeared in Alice's hand, the heads side showing a tiny spider. She flipped the coin, shouting, "Heads!"

The coin spun twice, and then landed with the blank side up.

"Tails," Gerald noted. "That's half your Life Points gone with the wind."

"Nope," Alice replied. "My Second Coin Toss lets me ignore any one coin flip each turn and try again. So I'll take advantage of that!"

The foul-looking man tossed her another coin, and she flipped it, calling, "Tails!"

This time, the coin bounced once on hitting the table, but landed with the blank side up.

"I win!" Alice declared. "Thanks to that, I don't lose half my Life Points – but that's moot, because Jirai Gumo attacks either way! Destroy his defending monster with Spider Trample!"

The Jirai Gumo spin a web, threw it to the ceiling, and climbed out of sight. Ten seconds later, it came down hard on Gerald's Humanoid Slime, crushing it under its weight.

"That'll be my turn," Alice said.

Gerald drew, glaring at the Des Counterblow. _I could attack, _he thought, _but then I'd lose my Servant of Catabolism. That Jirai Gumo will take out anything I play to defend myself, regardless of the coin flip, and if she draws a monster next turn, my Life Points are in trouble._ "I switch my Servant of Catabolism to Defense Mode," he finally said, "set another monster in Defense Mode, and set a card facedown. That ends my turn."

Even as the card appeared, Laura commented, "Both of his facedown cards before then are just sitting there. Why didn't he use them?"

"Even a good duelist will get distracted on occasion," Chad replied. "In addition, several of Gerald's traps are situational… and I'm guessing the situation hasn't happened yet."

Smirking, Alice drew another card…

"I'll activate my Gravity Bind," Gerald declared, "preventing monsters of Level Four or more from attacking."

The quicksilver orb bobbed into view, pulsing several times and forcing the Jirai Gumo to the ground.

Alice shrugged, playing her own card. "I play Pot of Greed." She ignored the hologram of the evil jar, instead just drawing her cards. "Next, I play Ante!"

"Ante?" Gerald asked.

"This Magic Card makes both of us choose one card from our hand – in your case, your only card," Alice explained. "We compare their Level Stars, and the person whose ante is lower-leveled discards the card and loses 1,000 Life Points. Magic and Trap cards are Level Zero for this purpose. Now show your hand!"

Both duelists turned their cards around. Gerald was holding a Jinzo #7…

Alice was holding a Blowback Dragon.

"Where did she get one of those?" Chad said, shocked.

Ignoring the outburst, Alice said, "Level Six versus Level Two – you lose! Now Ante takes its toll!"

Gerald grimaced, discarding his card as his Life Points dropped to 6,000. "Before you get too comfortable," he replied, "I activate Attack and Receive, which deals 700 points of damage to your Life Points when I take damage."

An armored man sprang from Gerald's card, bringing his sword down and slashing Alice hard. Her Life Points dipped to 5,200.

"Why didn't you use that when she triggered Dice Jar?" Laura asked.

"I forgot to when that tongue started squeezing me," Gerald replied.

Shrugging, Alice now declared, "I tribute my Jirai Gumo and summon the Blowback Dragon!"

The spider vanished, replaced by a massive metal dragon with a glowing gun barrel for a head… which promptly vanished into a large pit. Everyone blinked.

In explanation, Gerald held up his Trap Hole.

Uttering a curse in what sounded like Polish, Alice glared at him and said, "I'll end my turn on that."

There was a moment's pause, and then Gerald set his head on the table, groaning. _She's wide open for an attack. This is every duelist's greatest desire… but that Des Counterblow would take out any monster I tried to attack with, leaving ME wide open next turn. Of course, Des Counterblow works on both players, so she'd lose anything she hit me with, but she'd be doing more damage anyway… _He glanced at his card and sighed, saying, "I have to pass this turn."

Drawing a card, Alice set it on the field immediately, declaring, "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Even as Gerald drew, Alice hit a button, announcing, "I activate my Trap Card, Sixth Sense!"

The facedown card flipped up, showing a shocked young woman grasping at the air.

Chad raised an eyebrow, confused. Catching this, Laura explained, "I ran into that last month. Alice names two numbers between one and six, and then rolls a die. If she rolls a number other than one she named, she loses that many cards off of her deck. But if she rolls a named number, she draws that many cards."

A die appeared in Alice's hand as she said, "I'll say five and six – given how the card works, I'd be a fool to do anything else. Now…" She rolled the die.

It bounced twice, and came up a five. Gerald groaned, even as the top five cards of Alice's deck flew into her hand.

"Guess I haven't got a lot of choice…" Gerald said. "I set one card facedown, switch my Servant of Catabolism into Attack Mode, and equip it with the Axe of Despair."

The axe descended, whereupon the little snail/squid creature wrapped its tentacles around it. (700/500 – 1,700/500)

"Sorry, Servant of Catabolism… I'll bet 1,600 Life Points on Lethal Stakes and have it attack you," Gerald continued.

The Servant surged forward, holding the axe on high… and swung directly into a wall of Kuribohs. Alice held up the Kuriboh she'd discarded and said, "I learned a while back how nicely this works with Lethal Stakes. You lost the bet, so…"

A ghastly hand reached out from Lethal Stakes and slashed into Gerald, withdrawing a number of blue lights and leaving him shivering. His Life Points fell to 4,400, and the Darkness Infection sprang to life on his hands. Adding insult to injury, a beam of light left Des Counterblow and blew away the Servant of Catabolism.

Setting his head in his hand, the young man muttered, "I end my turn, then."

With a smirk, Alice drew her next card, next saying, "I play Monster Reborn, letting me bring back my Blowback Dragon!"

For a moment, the familiar ankh shined on the field. The mechanical dragon then rose from the ground, dirt falling from its muzzle. (2,300/1,200) The Gravity Bind pulsed and it collapsed.

"That was a Special Summon," Alice continued, "so now I'll summon my Goddess of Whim in Attack Mode!"

The goddess of fate rose onto the field, straightening her strangely leaves-like hair and tugging her dress into place. (950/700)

"Now," Alice went on, "I'll activate Blowback Dragon's effect. I flip three coins, and if at least two out of three are heads, I choose one card on your field and blow it away!" Three coins appeared in her hand; on the head side of each was a tiny picture of the Blowback Dragon.

"Cute," Chad muttered.

With one motion, the gambler snapped out her hand, causing all three coins to fly through the air. They landed a second later.

The first was tails…

…but the other two were heads.

Gerald placed his forehead to the table and moaned.

After a moment's laughter, Alice said, "It would be stupid to use this effect on your facedown monster. After all, my Blowback Dragon could kill it on its own if it wasn't pinned down. So instead… Blowback Dragon, destroy the Gravity Bind!"

Raising its head slightly, the Blowback Dragon fired off a burst of lightning that obliterated the Gravity Bind sphere. With its pulses gone, the machine now rose to its full height.

"As per Lethal Stakes, I'll bet 1,800 Life Points," the gambler continued.

Chad and Laura looked to each other, both with the same confused expression. Then Laura looked to the Goddess of Whim and snapped her fingers.

"Blowback Dragon, attack!" Alice went on. "Destroy his facedown monster with Ion Blast!"

A ripple of light went up the gun barrel on the Blowback Dragon's head. It did this twice, and then a third time. After the third time, it fired, shattering Gerald's Island Turtle.

Alice held out her hand, causing another coin to appear in it, this one with the Goddess of Whim's face on the heads side.

_Do all her monsters have customized coins?_ Gerald thought.

"As per Goddess of Whim's effect, I have to flip a coin and call it," Alice explained. "If I'm right, her Attack Points double – if I'm wrong, they're cut in half. I'll say heads!" She flipped the coin, caught it, and set it on her hand.

It was tails. She scowled, threw the coin away, and reached out, taking another coin from the Second Coin Toss man on her field. "Let's try that again," she grumbled. "Heads!"

She tossed this coin, caught it, set it on her hand… and then laughed, as the heads side was showing. "I win!" she announced. "Goddess of Whim, attack him directly with Horrid Luck!"

The Goddess smiled as she was surrounded by an aura of light. (950/700 – 1,900/700) She swung her hand, and Gerald fell out of his chair as if she had slapped him. His Life Points dropped to 2,500… right before Des Counterblow snaked out a beam of light and reduced the Goddess of Whim to atoms.

"Had to happen," Alice said, sighing, even as her Life Points rose to 7,800. "I'll be nice, though, and play Goblin's Secret Remedy to give you 600 Life Points back."

A handful of green leaves sprouted around Gerald, and his Life Points rose to 3,100.

"That was utterly pointless…" Chad said, one eyebrow rising.

Laura then suggested, "Maybe she needs an empty hand… I know several cards that work best with one."

"Finally," Alice concluded, "I set two cards facedown. Your move."

_She emptied her hand?_ Gerald questioned, even as he pulled himself back into his chair and drew…

"I activate Fire Darts!" Alice declared. A bizarre crossbow appeared before her. "This can only be activated if my hand is empty!"

_That both answers my question and explains Goblin's Secret Remedy,_ the lazy young man thought now, slumping.

"Now I roll three dice," the gambler continued, said dice appearing in her hand. "The combined result is how many darts I get to shoot at you – each one deals 100 Life Points of damage!" She rolled the dice.

The first came up a five.

The second was also a five.

The third landed on six.

"That's sixteen!" Alice said as she picked up the crossbow.

On the sidelines, Laura sarcastically said, "Congratulations, you can do addition."

After glaring at the other woman, Alice took aim with the crossbow and said, "I can multiply, too. Sixteen times 100 points equals 1,600 points of damage! Here we go!"

She pulled the crossbow's trigger sixteen times, and sixteen flaming darts slammed into Gerald, knocking him and his chair over. His Life Points dropped to 1,500.

Chad rolled his eyes. "What's next, the Gamble Angel Bunny?"

The gambler snapped her head towards Chad, making him inch back into his seat out of reflex. "Don't you dare mention that perversion out of the mind of Hugh Hefner!" she yelled. "No self-respecting lady gambler would be seen with that worthless wreck!"

"Just asking," Chad replied, shaking a bit.

It was a long moment before Gerald got back to his feet, his neck marked with the Darkness Infection and the veins in his eyes black. He twitched a few times before uprighting his chair, and then played the card he'd drawn that turn as he sat down. "I play my own Pot of Greed." He drew two cards and stopped, raising one eyebrow.

The leftmost card he was holding glowed slightly. He had drawn Heaven's Sphere.

Chad and Laura both sensed it, although Laura had to ask, "What's going on?"

"There's this card, Heaven's Sphere…" Chad paused a moment, unsure how to describe it. "It's a blessing from the Light itself. This duel isn't done."

Reading the card's effects one more time to make sure he understood them, Gerald smiled. "I begin with my Monster Reborn," he said, "letting me bring one monster back from the Graveyard. I'll choose Humanoid Slime in Defense Mode."

The slime surged back into play, arms crossed. (800/2,000)

"But it's only here to be an offering," the lazy young man continued. "I'll now tribute it to call forth my Heaven's Gift, the monster known as Heaven's Sphere."

The Humanoid Slime glowed with a strong internal light, which soon consumed its form. It turned into glowing particles, which then reformed into the perfect orb of Heaven's Sphere. (2,000/1,000)

"I'm certain your other facedown cards were just so that you could use Fire Darts," Gerald went on. "Now I'll bet 1,600 Life Points…"

Alice snorted, and then began to laugh. She couldn't contain herself and fell onto the table, laughing as hard as she could. "That's the dumbest wager I've ever heard of!" she said after regaining some control. "I know Lethal Stakes lets you bet up to double your Life Points, but you can't even destroy my Blowback Dragon! What're you going to do?"

Adopting the perfect poker face, Gerald explained, "If I have more than 1,000 Life Points, I may pay half of them once per turn. By doing so, I may double Heaven's Sphere's Attack Points until the end of my turn. That is what I will do."

The laughter stopped.

Gerald's Life Points fell to 750, and Heaven's Sphere glowed with increased might. (2,000/1,000 – 4,000/1,000)

"Heaven's Sphere," Gerald ordered, "attack the Blowback Dragon with Light of Justice."

The sphere turned itself towards the metal dragon, gathering all its energy into one point on its front. Soon, it fired a beam of pure light through the machine's core. It popped with static once, and then shattered into a thousand pieces.

Alice's Life Points fell to 5,300, and Gerald was showered with blue lights as his own Life Points rose to 2,350. "That's my turn," he concluded as Heaven's Sphere returned to its old Attack Points.

Alice's hand shook as she drew another card off of her deck. _That… the creepy woman with the metal voice never mentioned THAT!_ "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end this turn," she muttered.

Drawing his next card, Gerald looked to it. "This will do," he said. "I play Pot of Avarice, letting me shuffle five monsters from my Graveyard back into my deck and draw two cards." He took Jinzo #7, Servant of Catabolism, Inaba White Rabbit, Humanoid Slime, and Island Turtle from his Graveyard and shuffled them into his deck before drawing twice. "Next, I'll play Giant Trunade, sending all Magic and Trap cards on the field back to our hands…"

A mighty wind came up, and everything on Alice's field went flying back into her hand. Gerald's own field being empty, nothing happened there.

_Wow… that's actually a really smart card for him!_ Laura thought. _If he used Heavy Storm, he would usually be destroying his own defenses as well as his opponent's cards. This card lets him save his own magic and traps and does just as good in clearing out his opponent's!_

"Now," Gerald continued, "I play Spell Sanctuary. This card lets us both search our deck for any one Magic Card and add it to our hand. In addition, while it's on the field, we may both activate our Magic Cards as if they were all Quick-Play."

Both duelists searched their decks, finding the cards they wanted, and then reshuffled.

"Finally," Gerald concluded, "I'll set a card facedown, and have Heaven's Sphere take out your defending monster… and on another note, defense means nothing to it; it will damage you through it."

The sphere charged up its beam of light and fired, taking out Alice's Abare Ushioni and knocking her Life Points to 4,500.

"Your turn now," Gerald said.

Alice snarled, drawing a card… and then smirked. "I'll replay my Lethal Stakes and Second Coin Toss," she began, doing so, "and set a card facedown…"

"And I'll activate my Nobleman of Extermination," Gerald countered. A burly knight appeared on his field. "I know exactly what that facedown is, and I don't want to see it again, so my knight will banish it."

Alice gasped.

The burly knight stepped over to Alice's facedown card and rammed his sword through it. The revealed Des Counterblow glowed for a moment, and then vanished in a puff of smoke. Two additional puffs of smoke vanished from Alice's deck.

"Of course, when the Nobleman deals with a trap," Gerald added, "he removes all copies of it from both duelists's decks from play. I'd be committing suicide if I played Des Counterblow myself, so I'm not affected."

Snarling again, Alice glanced at the two cards she had left and made a few calculations. "I set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," she concluded sourly.

Gerald drew, looked to his card, and said, "Well… he doesn't really fit me, but he does fit this deck… even if I feel dirty playing him. I summon Shadowslayer in Attack Mode."

A strange humanoid being crept along the ground, looking somewhat like the Dark Assailant, but with an aura of doom around it; it stopped and glared with unseen eyes at Alice. (1,400/200)

"When all your monsters are in Defense Mode," Gerald continued, "he can attack your Life Points directly. I'll bet 1,300 Life Points for Lethal Stakes, and then… Shadowslayer, attack her with Slayer's Lunge."

The monster in question drew a sword out of the sheath on its back, and then leapt over Alice's monster, slashing her across the gut and sending her Life Points to 2,100. Gerald's own Life Points rose to 3,650.

"Heaven's Sphere, destroy her monster with Light of Justice," Gerald continued.

The glowing orb fired off a beam of light, purging the face-down Sand Gambler from her field. Her Life Points were now 1,900.

"Your move," Gerald finished.

The gambling duelist's hand shook as she drew, and sweat beaded on her forehead. _This better be good…_ She then smiled at her draw, slapping it down. "I play Card of Sanctity! Time to refresh our hands!"

Both duelists drew to six cards. Alice couldn't believe her luck: she had Dice Jar, Book of Taiyou, Barrel Dragon, Negate Attack, and Level Conversion Lab, along with one card she didn't care about.

_Perfect!_ Alice thought. _I have the plan already set… first, I'll set my Dice Jar, and then flip it face-up with Book of Taiyou. That should do him some good damage if my luck holds. Then I'll set Negate Attack and Level Conversion Lab. On his next turn, I'll survive with Negate Attack and hurt him again through Lethal Stakes! And then I'll activate Level Conversion Lab on the next turn, bringing out Barrel Dragon as long as I don't roll a one, and clear the field for my win!_

"I set one monster facedown in Defense Mode," she began, "and activate the Magic Card Book of Taiyou, flipping it face-up! Remember Dice Jar?"

The googly-eyed jar bobbed into view, and both Alice and Gerald took hold of the glowing dice. As Gerald took his, he yawned.

"This could end the duel now," Chad said quietly.

Both duelists rolled, and both got a three.

On their second roll, both got a two.

"Last roll," Alice said.

"We can hope so," Gerald replied.

Both duelists rolled one more time…

Alice got a one…

Gerald rolled a six!

The gambler stood up, clutching at her hair. "No!" she screamed. "It can't be! You can't roll a six – if you do, that's 6,000 Life Points! I _lose!_"

Gerald let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Alice," he said, "you style yourself a gambler. Didn't you realize what that meant? That means your opponent would be the house. And the house _always_ wins in the end."

The Dice Jar spun around and wrapped its long tongue around Alice. It squeezed six times, hard. Her Life Points fell to zero.

Even as the duel came to a close, Gerald set his head on the table and dozed off.

There was a pause, wherein Alice passed out, and then Chad said, "I'm starting to think his yawns are psychic."

**0000000**

"I can't say I'm surprised," Degas said, reclining in his chair. "Gambling decks always run the risk of self-sabotage."

Alexander nodded. "Indeed. Very interesting, however, to see Gerald handle Des Counterblow. We now know he can fall prey to it, and we know his most likely counter to it."

"If nothing else, Miss Dulei has given us a vital piece of information. So this wasn't a total loss." Degas paused, and then noted, "Who was Poker Alice, anyway?"

"According to a book I once read about the city of Deadwood, she was a notorious gambler from said city. They say she was good enough at it to support seven children."

"Ah."

Both men sipped their drinks.

**0000000**

It was five minutes before Gerald woke up, stretching as he rose from his seat. Gathering his cards, he reinserted his deck into his Duel Disk and looked to Chad and Laura.

The two had stolen the unconscious Alice's playing cards and were currently in the middle of a game. "Got any threes?" Chad asked.

"Go fish," Laura replied.

Noting that Gerald was awake again, Chad instead set his cards down and said, "Time's up."

"You only say that because I'm winning…" Laura griped, although she set her cards down as well. She then asked Gerald, "Well, now what?"

The lazy duelist shrugged and said, "After we defeated Neverwhere, Menardi possessed him and told us where to go next. We should probably just wait, since she'll most likely do that again."

As the three were about to sit down, a voice interrupted them: "I have to thank you."

En masse, they turned and saw an older man sitting at one of the blackjack tables. He looked to be in his early fifties, with graying hair and a stoic face. He wore a casual brown suit, and both of his hands were folded over an opaque black plastic box.

"You're welcome," Gerald said. "But why are you thanking us? And as rude as it is to ask this, who are you?"

The man said, "You may call me Ulysses. I need not ask who you are, Chosen of the Light."

"How did you…"

Ulysses held up a hand, cutting off the simultaneous question from Gerald, Chad, and Laura midway. "You played a Heaven's Sphere. I saw such a creature twenty years ago… when I was a Chosen of the Light. Back then, of course, there was no such thing as Duel Monsters… please, take a seat."

The three, now enthralled, took their seats, Gerald leaning forward.

"Twenty years ago," Ulysses began, "a man named Roger Vayex discovered a tablet near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, long hidden from modern eyes. This tablet, written around 3100 B.C., recorded the existence of a dark entity named Taekhaeon, a being of pure evil sealed away a century before by a Sumerian sorcerer. The tablet recorded that if Taekhaeon were released, the world would be plunged into utter darkness forever; it warned the reader to never undo the seal.

"Roger Vayex, however, could not resist the urge to test if the tablet spoke the truth. He searched for other evidence of what was written upon it, and eventually found the secret to unleashing Taekhaeon. I dare not say how he did it, but he broke the seal and unleashed that unholy creature into this world.

"It was shortly afterwards that the forces of Light paid me a visit. I saw all of these events in a vision – which left me with both an unclear purpose and a severe headache. Are the Light's visitations still as skull-cracking?"

"I'm afraid so," Gerald replied.

"Alas." Ulysses cleared his throat. "Either way, I soon realized why I had received the visit. My family has long preserved a strain of druidic, wild magic, its roots predating even Stonehenge. It is a way of magic that draws power from the Balance, and so it could confront even Taekhaeon and his servant. Gathering all the lore that I could, I prepared myself for the confrontation, and then headed out to the Negev Desert in Israel, where the Darkness was waiting.

"You may have witnessed this yourself – it is the greatest weakness of the Darkness that it cannot refuse a challenge.

"My first battle was against Roger Vayex, who drew on dark powers granted him by his master. We fought for many hours, and when the battle ceased, my magic had overwhelmed him and reduced him to ashes, blown on the wind.

"But then Taekhaeon emerged from his remains, having consumed Vayex's soul for power, and the battle was truly joined. Several hours later, I was nearly powerless, my magic spent and useless. I finally called on the Light for aid.

"And then the skies parted, and a Heaven's Sphere descended from above, standing by my side. Touching it restored my powers and healed my wounds, and with this new second wind I could resume the battle. In the end, this second rush was too much for Taekhaeon to stand against, and the foul creature was forced to flee from this world.

"The Heaven's Sphere vanished after the battle, and I have never seen one since… until today. That woman, the Darkness Infected, struck down everyone else here, but I escaped her notice. And when you played Heaven's Sphere, I was reminded of that day, twenty years ago, when the Light aided me in battle."

Gerald, Chad, and Laura were utterly silent. They were more amazed than anything else.

Ulysses then sighed and asked, "I wish only to see the card."

With a shrug, Gerald took it out of the deck, holding it up. "I'd hand it to you, but it doesn't let anyone else touch it."

"I do not doubt it." The older man leaned forward, examining the card closely, and then sighed again. "There is no suspicion in my mind. That is indeed a Heaven's Sphere in the form of a Duel Monster… and you are a Chosen of the Light. In that case, I wish to aid you."

"Will you come with us?" Laura asked.

Ulysses shook his head. "No, I'm afraid. Sadly, I do not duel, and that is apparently the current form of combat used by the Darkness. However…" He opened the black box in front of him, revealing what seemed an endless array of Duel Monsters cards. "I purchased this assortment for my grandson just before I came to the club. I haven't counted or looked at them, so I don't know what there is. Please take what you feel you can use… but I ask that you each only take three. That way, there will still be plenty for him."

The duelists all nodded, and then began to look over the options.

Laura took a few cards out of the box, looking them over. _Hey, I know that one – it's the last one I needed to finish the set!_ She took it, and then examined two others. _That guy on the left…he could save me in a rough spot. And this card works great with the first card I picked up._ She took both and stepped back, inserting her three choices into her deck.

Chad, meanwhile, examined three cards that had caught his eye. _Hmmm…I have most of the Magic and Trap cards this deck can use – this one was the last one I needed. This first monster is one that'll do nicely… and this last one is one I've only heard stories about. They'll do well._ He stepped back now, putting his choices in his deck.

Finally, Gerald looked at his options. _I've wanted **that** card since I conceived of this deck._ He took his first pick, and then found two more cards near it. _I've seen several people use that card before – it would work nicely with this deck – and that card there has its possibilities._

He took those two, and then took a card out of his deck. It was Shadowslayer. "This card doesn't fit me," he told Ulysses. "Maybe your grandson can use it." He put it in the box.

Nodding, Ulysses looked into the box and asked, "You left some rare ones in there, I hope?"

"I don't think we actually took any rares," Chad said, shrugging. "Most of what I took was just cards I couldn't find beforehand."

"Same here," said Laura.

Gerald finished, "And here."

Closing the box, Ulysses nodded. "Thank you." He then stood up. "And thank you for the chance to see such a glorious creature once again." With that, he walked out of the building.

The three duelists silently watched him go. Once he was gone, Gerald let out a sigh and said, "If that is what I become when I'm his age, I'll know I aged well."

"Agreed," Chad and Laura said together.

There was suddenly a laugh, and all three spun around.

The still-unconscious Alice raised her head and laughed again, and they instantly recognized it as Menardi. "You don't have to get up," she said. "In fact, you don't even have to move – the next player in our little game will come to you!"

"What do you mean?" Chad asked, but by then Alice was back to her unconscious self.

**0000000**

In her safehouse, Menardi picked up the phone and dialed a very specific number. The phone rang twice, and then there was an answer.

"Hello, Nina," she said. "I'm afraid Alice is down… Hmmm? Oh, she lost, that's all." She paused for a second. "Please calm down, Nina. Yes, it's a shame someone defeated your little sister, but these things happen. Now, do you want the family legacy to be besmirched, or do you want to make up for it?" She paused again. "All right, then. They're currently at Canterbury Downs, just waiting for you. Now go to it and avenge your sister!"

The Pillar hung up her phone and let out a steel-edged laugh.

**LETHAL STAKES**

Type: Continuous Magic Card

Image: The Sand Gambler, Goddess of Whim, and Terrorking Archfiend are playing blackjack; the Terrorking Archfiend is the dealer, and they have blue lights in front of them instead of chips.

Effect: During each player's Battle Phase, they may declare an increment of 100. If they deal damage to their opponent's Life Points totaling more than the declared number, they gain Life Points equal to double the declared number. If they deal damage to their opponent's Life Points totaling less than the declared number, they lose Life Points equal to the declared number. The number must be at least 100 and cannot be greater than double the declaring player's total Life Points.

**HEAVEN'S SPHERE  
**Type: Effect Monster/Heaven's Gift

Statistics: Light/Fairy/6/2000/1000/Effect/Heaven's Gift

Image: A large white orb, pulsing with power.

Effect: During either player's Battle Phase, if your Life Points are 1,000 or higher, you may pay half your Life Points. If you do, double this monster's ATK until the end of the Battle Phase. When this card attacks with an ATK that is higher than the DEF of your opponent's Defense Position monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points. This card ceases to exist if it leaves your control or you are unconscious.

_Coming next chapter: Alice's sister wants revenge. And unfortunately for Laura, she doesn't care which member of the group she takes it upon! Although she's strengthened her deck, Laura may not quite be able to stand against the near-limitless strength of the elder Dulei's deck. Can she deflate the menace, or will she be crushed underfoot? Find out in Chapter Twelve, "Ever-Growing Threats"!_


	13. EverGrowing Threats

_**The most important person in my childhood was my big sister, Jessica. I counted on her for pretty much everything I held dear.**_

_**We were closer than anyone could ever imagine, and I always knew she'd protect me if something went wrong. She still would; even now, when I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself safe, if something came up that was beyond my ability to counter, I could always rely on her. **_

Judging from how angry this girl is, she's a lot like Jessica. I know if the situation were reversed and I was the one unconscious, Jessica would rip the world in half to get back at the one who did it. I can sympathize with this opponent, which makes the duel hard…

_**But then again, Jessica also taught me to be satisfied with what I had. Something tells me this girl never bothered teaching that lesson to her sister… **_

**Chapter Twelve: Ever-Growing Threats**

It was not a very good day for Father Young. He'd returned to the holding cell the day before only to find Ogre and the prisoner gone, and now had spent the majority of the morning praying that he wouldn't be taken next. And then Hanzaki had shown up and taken him somewhere in St. Paul.

Now the priest was kneeling before Degas and Alexander's chairs, holding his cross in front of his chest, explaining why he wasn't in the building when the prisoner escaped.

There was a long pause after he finished his story, during which Degas and Alexander just looked at each other. Finally, and to the preacher's immense relief, Alexander smiled and said, "I understand, Father. In fact… I daresay we have to thank you…"

"Thank me?" Father Young asked.

"The darkness level in this area is beyond expectations, and we weren't sure why," Degas explained. "You've accelerated our plans somewhat with your sermons, and now we can move on to the next stage…" He grinned. "We didn't expect this level of service from you, Father. Relax for now… and continue with your sermons. You are excused."

Rising to his feet, Father Young bowed low, readjusting his collar afterward. "As you desire." He then walked to where Hanzaki was waiting, but stopped and asked, "May I know what happened to Ogre?"

"Mr. Grunn… did not receive our thanks," Alexander replied. "That should answer your question well enough."

As the air blurred and both Hanzaki and the priest vanished, Father Young's expression was unreadable.

Once the room was clear, Degas signaled for another glass of wine, which appeared in his hand. Alexander did the same thing, but as _he_ did so, there was a crackle of black electricity around his hand.

Sipping his drink, Degas commented, "Later today we will have to perform our grandest trick on Minneapolis…"

"Must we?" Alexander said, sighing before taking a sip of his own drink. "I had a headache the size of Lake of the Woods for a week after we did it to St. Paul."

"The Darkness requires it, my friend. It is part and parcel of why you're a Dark Conduit."

"And part of the drawback to being the dark equivalent of a walking Duracell." Alexander glanced to his drink. "I'm going to need more wine."

**0000000**

After Menardi's assurance that their next opponent would arrive shortly, Gerald and his friends had nothing to do but wait in the entrance of the Canterbury Downs card club. Chad had found a radio, and Acknowledgement's "Never Trust Me" played softly in the background.

Gerald had found a copy of the day's newspaper and was reading it to Laura. "The Hokkaido Regionals was last week… huh." He looked closer at the article. "Weevil Underwood placed second. That's his best performance in two years."

"Who won?" Laura asked.

Gerald looked back over the article. "Vellion Crowler… I've heard that name a lot lately in the Japan circuit."

After a moment, Laura said, "Wasn't Weevil off the map just over a year ago?"

"His sister made it to the Monster Island Finals, and he took that opportunity to get his own career back underway," Gerald answered. "He's done pretty well recently – better than Rex Raptor has, anyway. This is his best performance in years; that should shake up the critics."

"You said something about his sister?"

Gerald frowned. "As I understand, she entered the tournament with the express goal of attaining enough renown to destroy Weevil's career completely. She was taken out in the first round of the finals, and I haven't heard of her since. The irony is palpable."

Laura nodded. "What was her name?" she asked.

"Damned if I can remember…"

Sitting next to the radio, Chad wasn't playing any attention to the two of them. His thoughts were turned inward and his eyes shut as he asked himself the question, _What am I doing here?_

It wasn't like he hadn't asked himself that before. He'd asked the same question some months ago, on realizing he was working at a hardware store to support himself instead of holding an exhibition at the Guggenheim as per his life's plan. Back then, however, he'd managed to convince himself that he was only working there to finance his future artistic success.

Today, however, that excuse didn't work. He'd run through a mental gallery of his paintings, and he had to admit one thing…

_I'm really not much of a painter,_ Chad thought. _I'm not about to give Monet a run for his money…_ He paused. _Adolf Hitler was a lousy painter and I'm only slightly better… artistically… than **he** was!_

Tugging on one of his sleeves, Chad sighed deeply. His Duel Disk shifted as he did so, and his mind clicked back to the original issue. _Is my life that empty, that I was willing to drop everything and risk my life in the name of Gerald's problem? He's my friend, but he never asked me to come along… In fact, if you get down to it, I just came with him without either of us bringing it up. _After a certain memory cued up, he thought further, _I wonder if I'd be here if Gerald had a driver's license?_

"Are you all right, Chad?" Gerald said, looking over the top of his newspaper. "You're being unusually quiet."

"Just doing a lot of thinking, Gerald," Chad answered. He then thought, _I no longer have a choice. Perhaps whatever force of the Light keeps giving Gerald visions will give me a clue as to my purpose in life if I keep helping him…_

After another moment, Laura asked, "So how will we know when the next duelist shows up? Will they just walk in, or…?"

The question was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle roaring up to the building. The three duelists looked to each other and took the obvious cue. As one, they rose from their seats and headed outside.

**0000000**

Leaning back in her chair in the safe house, Menardi stirred her fingers above a bowl of popcorn, waiting for the duel to start. "Poor Gerald," she mocked. "You have no idea what a hornet's nest you stirred up… You hurt a Dulei sister, and they do not take that sitting down."

One finger jabbed down, and when she raised her fingernail to her lips, it was impaling five pieces of popcorn. She slid one piece off of her nail and chewed it for a second.

"I do hope you enjoy this," she murmured afterward. "I know I certainly will…"

**0000000**

In turn, Chad, Laura, and Gerald (who was several steps behind the others) left the card club and stopped in front of the door. The reason for their stopping was to stare at the new arrival.

At the moment, the woman in question was sitting sideways on a Harley-Davidson Heritage, her helmet hanging from one of the handlebars. She had her brown hair in a ponytail, and there was a small scar on her left cheek. Her outfit was the traditional biker's leathers (for a moment, Chad made a mental comparison to his own "Rebel Without a Cause" outfit), and the phrase "Covet" was emblazoned on the back of her jacket. She glared at them, and one look into her eyes confirmed that this was another unfortunate host to the Darkness Infection.

"Which one of you defeated my sister?" she demanded.

All three of the duelists glanced to each other. Finally, Gerald raised his hand. "If you mean Alice Dulei, that would be my bad," he said.

Sliding off the motorcycle, the woman pulled a small metal card from her pocket and tapped a button on it, causing it to unfold into a Pocket Disk. "You bastard!" she shouted as she strapped it on. "Nobody hurts a Dulei and gets away with it!"

Gerald rolled his eyes to the heavens, muttering, "Two in a row? Spare me…"

Suddenly, Laura pushed Chad out of the way and said, "Listen… I've got an older sister, too, so I can understand what you're feeling… but you have to realize that Alice didn't give Gerald much of a choice. It was pretty much a duel-or-die scenario."

Even as she took her deck out of another pocket and slid it into place, the woman replied, "Do you really think that matters? He still hurt my sister, and he's still going to pay in blood!"

The three duelists took a step back and huddled. Gerald commented, "I don't think she's going to pay attention. She wants revenge, and the Darkness is nullifying her ability to listen to reason."

"Still, you need a break," Chad answered. "The more times you duel a Darkness Infected, the better the chance you'll end up with it. That leaves the question of which of us will duel her…"

"I'll do it," Laura said. "She's trying to avenge her big sister, so I have a… personal connection with her."

The huddle broke, and Laura stepped forward, her Duel Disk on. "Okay," she told the woman, "you'll still get to duel Gerald… but you have to go through me. If you win, you'll have the satisfaction of the guy who hurt your sister having watched a friend fall before he did. Sound good?"

"Sounds sadistic," the woman replied. "I'm in. My name is Nina Dulei, and this will be my revenge!"

Both Life Point counters rose to 8,000.

**0000000**

A ball of fire briefly settled on the top of the building, out of the view of Gerald and his allies. It reformed into Lucifer Allumette, who was crouching on the roof and looking down on the duel underway.

"Ah, ze pain of sisterly love," he said wistfully. "You opened a can of worms zis time, didn't you, Monsieur Laxina? A pity I cannot stay to watch ze entire duel…"

He paused, and then cursed under his breath. "Where ze hell did it go off to?"

After a moment of looking around, Lucifer shook his head and disappeared in a flash of fire.

**0000000**

Chad and Gerald had taken seats on the steps, and Gerald looked up as a noise caught his attention. "Did you just hear a whooshing noise?"

"No…" Chad replied.

"Ah, well." The two returned their attention to Laura and Nina.

Snapping the top card off of her deck, Nina hissed, "This is for Alice…" She examined her cards, took two from her hand, and slid them into her Duel Disk before placing another on it. "I set two cards facedown, and set one monster in Defense Mode. Take your turn."

"Gladly," Laura replied. She drew her own card, thought for a moment, and then declared, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

The armor-clad warrior clanked into position, the blades on his arms shining brightly. (1,800/1,600)

After considering Nina's field, Laura said, "I guess I just have to go for it! Gearfried, attack her face-down monster with Iron Edge!"

The iron knight flashed across the field and sliced Nina's facedown monster in twain. A small lizard with a white fur collar briefly appeared before shattering. (500/500)

"Thanks to your destroying Imperia," Nina said, "I draw a card." She did so.

_Tricky… since she wanted me to destroy Imperia, I can't discount her facedown cards._ "I set a card facedown and end my turn," Laura finished.

Even as Nina drew, she was already taking another card from her hand and setting it on her Disk. "I play the Continuous Magic Card Limitless Hand," she said. "Now our hand size is… well, limitless."

At the doorway, Chad and Gerald glanced to each other. "That means it's one of two deck themes – Final Destiny/Judgment Blaster Ghoul or Muka Greed," Gerald began.

"And given her Imperia, I'm guessing the latter," Chad finished.

"I set another card facedown," Nina said, pointedly ignoring her audience, "and set another monster in Defense Mode… and that will be it for my turn."

Drawing her own next card, Laura held it up, smiling. "I play Reinforcements of the Army, which lets me add any Warrior-type monster of Level Four or less from my deck to my hand. And here's a little secret… for this deck, that's _any_ monster!"

The men gasped. "A Warrior deck without Tribute Monsters?" Chad said, his eyes wide. "That's a first…"

"Indeed," Gerald said. "I've never seen one without Freed the Matchless General."

As Laura searched her deck, she answered them: "And that's why all Warrior decks look the same. I wanted to shake things up with this one." She then took a monster, added it to her hand, and shuffled her deck. "Now… I summon Sasuke Samurai in Attack Mode!"

The super-deformed samurai strode out, drawing his sword and sighting down it. (500/800)

Nina put one hand to her forehead. "Crap."

"I guess you know Sasuke Samurai's ability – when he attacks a monster in face-down Defense Mode, he instantly destroys it." Laura gestured towards the monster in question. "Sasuke Samurai, take it down! High-Velocity Wakazashi!"

Taking a step forward, the little samurai blurred, stopping just short of impaling Nina with his sword. The Royal Magic Library appeared, apparently untouched. (0/2,000) Then a thin line appeared at its base, and the building fell over, crumbling on hitting the ground.

"Gearfried," Laura ordered next, "attack Nina directly! Iron Edge!"

The Iron Knight charged forward, his arm blade striking Nina before the girl could prepare. She let out a yell and fell backwards, her Life Points dropping to 6,200.

"Don't get excited," Gerald warned Chad before his friend could say anything. "First blood counts for little in this game."

As Nina got back to her feet, Laura said, "I set a card facedown and call that a turn."

The elder Dulei sister glared daggers at her opponent as she drew a card. _Oh, this isn't going to work…_ "I activate my Trap, Jar of Greed, letting me draw a card…"

The reddish trap cousin of the Pot of Greed appeared, chuckling in a low voice as it did so. Nina drew a card, looked twice at it, and then said, "I summon the Bistro Butcher in Attack Mode!"

A blue-skinned, fiendish chef with one hook hand emerged, checking the sharpness of his cleaver on the light. (1,800/1,000)

"Rather than attack," Nina continued, "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

As she drew, Laura thought, _Time to use that monster I picked up with my Reinforcements of the Army._ "Come on out, Goblin Attack Force!" she called as she threw the card onto her Duel Disk.

A group of shiftless, lazy-looking goblins with clubs walked out of the card, grumbling amongst themselves. (2,300/0)

_I need to press the advantage,_ Laura thought before declaring, "Goblin Attack Force, take out the Bistro Butcher with Press Gang!"

The goblins slammed their clubs on the ground and surged forward, ready to strike…

"Activate Waboku!" Nina countered.

A circle of priestesses appeared and chanted, shielding the Bistro Butcher with holy light. The goblins tumbled backward, and slowly got to their feet, arguing with each other over whose fault it was that the attack failed.

"Shut it, guys!" Laura yelled at her monsters. They shrugged as a group, and then plopped down as they switched into Defense Mode, as per their drawback. "That's my turn."

Even as she drew, Nina began to cackle. "Watch this. I start by playing Mystical Space Typhoon on your left facedown card!"

A massive gust of wind blew Laura's card face-up, revealing it as a Draining Shield, and then snapped it in half before shattering it. _Fat lot of good it did me this time,_ she thought.

"Now," Nina continued, "I play a card you might've seen coming – Card of Sanctity."

"Knew it," Gerald and Chad said simultaneously.

As both players drew their hands up to six cards, Nina calmly tapped a button on her Duel Disk, adding, "Since you're drawing outside of your Draw Phase, I can activate my Trap Card, Appropriate. Every time you draw outside your Draw Phase after this, I get to draw two cards." A sack of gold fell out of the revealed card and sat there.

Laura ignored that, staring at one of the cards she'd drawn. _That's one of the cards I got from Ulysses… of course, I don't have the card I picked it as an accessory for. Is there a rule that you only ever draw half a combo?_ She glanced at Nina's field and then thought, _Against this deck, though, half the combo may be all I need._

"I set one card facedown," Nina continued, "and one monster in Defense Mode – and now, Bistro Butcher, attack Sasuke Samurai! Meat Hook Slash!"

"Activate Negate Attack!" Laura countered.

The fiendish chef charged at Laura's little samurai, his hook drawn back. Before it could make impact, however, the implement got stuck in a temporal hole. Cursing, the fiend struggled for a moment, finally freeing his hook, and skulked back to Nina's field.

Shrugging, Nina said, "I end my turn."

Drawing a card, Laura mentally cursed. _Pot of Greed… playing this right now would be stupidity, because it would hand Nina two more cards._ "I set one card facedown," she began, setting the card she'd gotten from Ulysses, "and summon the Marauding Captain in Attack Mode. And as per his effect, I'll Special Summon the Blade Knight!"

The old, battle-scarred soldier marched into view and sighed slightly. (1,200/400) He then whistled, causing a man with his body completely hidden by armor to step out, running his fingers along the edge of his sword. (1,600/1,000)

Nina slid one hand into position behind the buttons for her Magic and Trap cards.

"Sasuke Samurai," Laura began, "bring down her face-down monster!"

The little samurai blurred, and then appeared behind the face-down monster… which turned into a Des Lacooda and shattered. (500/600)

Nina sighed. "Since its effect only works on a Flip Summoning, I get nothing. However, I'll take this time to activate Solemn Wishes." Her face-down card flipped and showed the picture of a woman in a rain of light.

"Just as I thought." Smiling, Laura ordered, "Gearfried the Iron Knight, attack the Bistro Butcher with Iron Edge!"

Before the knight could move, Nina declared, "I activate Sakuretsu Armor, which will destroy your tin man!"

A mysterious red armor shined into being around the Bistro Butcher. The iron-clad warrior charged and struck the armor with his blade arm, only to see the armor glow brightly. Suddenly, it exploded, wiping out Gearfried while leaving its wearer unharmed.

With a growl, Laura said, "I end my turn."

A smirk established itself on Nina's face as she drew. "I gain 500 Life Points for Solemn Wishes," she said – needlessly, as the rain of light made that fairly clear. Her Life Points rose to 6,700.

"That'll be all you get," Laura announced, "because I activate Greed!"

Nina's smirk vanished and she bit her lip.

"Excellent choice of cards," Gerald said. "Now either player will lose 500 Life Points per card every time she draws outside of her Draw Phase… but Nina will be doing that much more often than Laura."

"But why does Laura have it?" Chad asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

The smirk was gone, replaced with a scowl, as Nina grumbled, "Still, my Solemn Wishes will nullify the first 500 points of damage each time… Either way, I now play Dragged Down to the Grave. Both of us pick one card from our opponent's hand and send it to the Graveyard, and then we both draw a card."

The two girls turned their hands around, and Laura immediately knew what she wanted to dispose of. "Get rid of the Muka Muka," she said.

"Fine," Nina replied as she discarded it. "You can lose that Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke."

The redhead discarded her own card, and both duelists drew one. Two gold coins then leapt from the bag at Nina's feet and turned into cards as she drew for Appropriate.

"Don't forget Greed," Laura said, as a whirlwind of coins spun to life at their feet. "Now we both lose 500 Life Points for every card we drew – I only drew one, but you drew three."

"Thanks to my Solemn Wishes," Nina replied, eyes narrowing, "I'll gain 500 Life Points before I lose any."

The whirlwind picked up, the coins suddenly becoming gold knives. A rain of light shone around Nina, raising her to 7,200 Life Points, but then the former coins began to slash at the two duelists. Laura was hit twice, sending her to 7,500 Life Points, but the golden knives tore into Nina repeatedly, causing her to gasp. When the whirlwind died down, Nina's Life Points dropped to 5,700.

As the storm died down, Nina brushed herself off, muttering, "Never thought I'd envy King Midas…" She then took a card from her hand and declared, "I summon my Giant Rat in Attack Mode!"

A very large, very angry rat stomped out, cracking its knuckles. (1,400/1,450)

After a moment, Gerald glanced to Chad and questioned, "Why don't you use one of those?"

"Most of my beasts are too powerful to search for," Chad replied. "Besides, several of them are the wrong attribute. Waste of space in the long run."

After a moment, the elder Dulei said, "I'll start as I have to, by disposing of the Marauding Captain. Giant Rat, Rat Tackle!"

The rat charged forward and dove onto the Captain, crushing the soldier under its girth. Laura's face twitched as she watched her Life Points go to 7,300.

"Bistro Butcher," Nina then ordered, "dispose of the tiny samurai with Meat Hook Slash!"

The fiendish chef charged forward and slammed his hook into the Sasuke Samurai's gut, pulling down hard… and thus gutting him.

Gerald, Chad, and Laura all recoiled in nausea, Chad gasping, "What sort of sociopath programmed that?"

Even Nina looked disgusted, although she couldn't hide her smirk as Laura's Life Points dropped to 6,000. After a moment, she noted, "Bistro Butcher lets you draw two cards, and thanks to Appropriate, I get the same benefit…"

"And thanks to Greed," Laura interrupted, "we both lose 1,000 Life Points!" She then drew her cards, whereupon the bag of gold on Nina's field gave her two cards as well.

As before, Nina was bathed in light, raising her Life Points to 6,200, just before the whirlwind of coins hit. When it stopped, Nina was at 5,200 Life Points and Laura was down to 5,000.

Gerald sighed and muttered, "Greed's backfiring more than it's doing its job…"

"I set one card facedown," Nina concluded, "and turn it over to you."

Snapping the top card off of her deck, Laura shut her eyes and gave it a moment's thought, trying to ignore the marks on the back of her hands. She then declared, "I play The A. Forces! As long as this card is in play, all my warriors gain 200 Attack Points for each one there is. Next, I summon Command Knight, who gives warriors 400 extra Attack Points!"

First, the magic card appeared, causing Laura's Blade Knight and Goblin Attack Force to take notice and straighten up. Next, the female warrior in red armor stepped out and snapped her fingers, causing them to straighten up even more. (Blade Knight: 1,600/1,000 – 2,600/1,000; Goblin Attack Force: 2,300/0 – 3,300/0; Command Knight: 1,200/1,900 – 2,200/1,900)

"Next," Laura continued, "I switch my Goblin Attack Force back to Attack Mode." The goblins rose to their feet, smiling nervously at the Command Knight. "And now… Command Knight, attack the Bistro Butcher with Commander's Strike!"

Nina hit her facedown card, declaring, "I activate Shift, which will change the target of her attack to Giant Rat!"

Gerald and Chad both groaned.

The Command Knight drew her sword, which burst into flames as she did so. With one swipe, she cut the Giant Rat in half, and its body burst into flames, sending Nina's Life Points to 4,400.

"As per its effect," Nina noted, "I can Special Summon any Earth monster with 1,500 Attack Points or less." She then smiled evilly, adding, "And it doesn't say it has to be Level Four or less… In fact, I'll summon a Level Five."

"A Level Five under 1,500 Attack Points…" Laura muttered. She thought… and then gasped. "You mean - "

"Enraged Muka Muka in Attack Mode!" Nina confirmed.

What appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be a massive stone toad towered over Laura, staring down at her with a lot of anger on its face. (1,200/600)

Nina then noted, "As you're well aware, for every card in my hand, it gains 400 Attack and Defense Points. Six cards equal 2,400 points." The monster expanded, growing even larger, until it blocked out the sun. (3,600/3,000)

Swallowing hard, Laura said, "I switch my Blade Knight into Defense Mode…" The knight knelt. "And then I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Nina drew, briefly raising the Enraged Muka Muka's Attack Points, but quickly set the card down. As she did so, the light of Solemn Wishes brought her Life Points back to 4,900. "I'll summon a regular Muka Muka in Attack Mode! It gains 300 Attack Points for each card in my hand, so watch this…"

A stone crab crawled up next to its big brother, clacking its claws in anticipation. Smoke rolled from its back. (600/300) As with the Enraged Muka Muka, it soon swelled to gargantuan proportions. (2,400/2,100)

Laura braced herself.

"I'd do the most damage by taking down Command Knight," Nina mused, "but her effect keeps that from happening as long as you have a monster on the field. So instead, Muka Muka, bring down the Blade Knight with Greedy Slice!"

The crab scuttled up to the Blade Knight and slashed through his spine with one swing of its claws, watching him collapse in agony. With his demise, the power of The A. Forces waned, weakening both of Laura's monsters. (Goblin Attack Force: 3,300/0 – 3,100/0; Command Knight: 2,200/1,900 – 2,000/1,900)

Grinning, Nina ordered, "Enraged Muka Muka, take down the Goblin Attack Force with Greedy Chomp!"

The stone toad waddled up to the goblins, looked at them a moment, and then chomped up the entire group with one snap of its jaws. Laura blinked as her Life Points reached 4,500.

As the angry rock waddled back to her field, Nina declared, "I end my turn."

"We can expect to hear that a lot," Gerald noted. "She's not going to play anything she doesn't need to."

Laura drew as her frustration mounted. _That's not going to help…My Pot of Greed could help me, but that's 1,000 Life Points down the gutter from my Greed, and then she'd pump up those rocks/animals/whatever even more!_ "I switch Command Knight to Defense Mode," she said, "and set a monster in Defense Mode. That's all I can do."

Nina drew, raising her Life Points to 5,400, and then swiftly played what she had drawn. "I play Exchange. You get to pick one card from my hand, and I get to pick one from yours. So show me what you've got…"

"Damn," Laura muttered as she turned her hand around.

After a moment's study, Nina stepped forward and snatched the Pot of Greed out of Laura's hand. "Mmmm… Just what I like to see. Okay…" She held up her exposed hand. "Make your pick."

Laura halfheartedly picked a card from Nina's hand.

Once both duelists were back in their proper places, Nina held up Laura's Pot of Greed. "You know, thanks to my Appropriate, I'd get two cards from this either way, but this way I don't have to share. I activate your Pot of Greed!"

As always, the evil jar floated before her, and she drew two cards. A rain of light from Solemn Wishes put her Life Points at 5,900, but then the dagger-like coins of Greed spun around her, and she cursed as her Life Points fell to 4,900. As usual, when her hand size increased, so did the size of her monsters… and their power; her Enraged Muka Muka's Attack Points now sat at 4,000, while the regular Muka Muka had 2,700 Attack Points.

"There are smaller Muka Mukas orbiting those things!" Chad yelled.

Gerald glanced to Laura's field, and to her facedown monster. He'd seen one card in particular as she'd sorted through her deck earlier, and he knew she still had a prayer.

Needless to say, Nina didn't bother playing anything else. "Muka Muka," she ordered, "attack her facedown monster!"

Again, the stone crab charged forward, swinging its claws at the facedown monster… which blocked the attack with its sword. The monster turned out to be an elf in green armor, holding his sword defensively in front of him. (1,400/1,200 – 2,000/1,200)

"Thought so," Gerald said, smiling.

Laura let out a sigh of relief. "I wasn't sure if it was counting original Attack Points or current," she said. "Thankfully, it counted the latter. As you might have guessed, it's an Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, so your boulders can't touch it unless you empty your hand."

Nina snorted. "Then my turn's done."

As she drew, Laura concentrated. _Help me out here, deck!_ Glancing to her drawn card, she exhaled. "Did you know the Sasuke Samurai I play is just one of an extended family?" she asked Nina.

"No," the elder Dulei replied, "and I don't really care, either."

"Too bad, because one of his cousins is about to have a few angry words with you. Meet the Sasuke Samurai #4, in Attack Mode!"

Another superdeformed warrior marched out of Laura's card, glaring at Nina. This one dressed in a full set of samurai armor, complete with kabuto, and he carried a naginata. His fussy little mustaches twitched. (1,200/1,200 – 2,200/1,200)

There was a pause, and then the elder Dulei sister laughed.

For once, Gerald seemed confused. "If it's part of the Sasuke family, it has an effect," he muttered. "But what sort of effect makes it worthwhile to throw it against something like the Muka Mukas?"

Laura heard that and grinned. "It's a matter of luck," she replied. "When the Sasuke Samurai #4 fights an enemy, I flip a coin and call it. If I win the flip, the monster my samurai battles dies by its effect – there's no damage calculation involved. If I lose… well…"

"Then it's over," Gerald finished.

Laura merely nodded. "And here goes nothing. Sasuke Samurai #4, attack the Enraged Muka Muka with Daimyo's Blade!"

A coin appeared in Laura's hand as the little samurai set his spear and charged. The giant stone toad opened its mouth wide…

All eyes went to the coin as Laura threw it skyward, yelling, "Heads!"

It spun twice at the apex of its flight, and then began to descend, spinning all the way. It struck the ground on its edge…

…and landed with the heads side up.

The Sasuke Samurai #4 jumped before reaching his opponent, jabbing the naginata between two stone "scales". He vaulted off the creature's upper lip, and then landed point-down, burying the weapon's blade between the Enraged Muka Muka's eyes. There was a pause, as the creature's mammoth body acknowledged its death, and then the Enraged Muka Muka shattered into a thousand pieces.

Without so much as a flourish, the samurai marched back to his place on Laura's field, leaving her opponent staring open-mouthed at where the Enraged Muka Muka had once stood.

"That'll be my turn," Laura concluded.

Finally blinking, Nina drew a card, raising her Life Points to 5,400 once again. Looking over her hand, she took one card from it and set it on the Duel Disk. "Let's see if you can do that twice. I bring back the Enraged Muka Muka with Premature Burial!"

Nina's Life Points dropped to 4,600, and a burning circle of red light burst into view on the ground before them. The giant stone toad rose out of the ground within the circle, glaring at its would-be killer. Its entire body took on a light greenish cast. (1,200/600 – 4,000/3,400)

_Here goes… something…_ Laura thought. She then triggered her facedown card. "I activate Ready For Intercepting, turning my Sasuke Samurai #4 to facedown Defense Mode!"

The little samurai vanished, replaced by a facedown card.

"Hmph," Nina snorted. "I'll just crush it on general principle. Enraged Muka Muka, eat that Sasuke Samurai #4 alive!"

Once again, the gigantic stone monstrosity opened its mouth wide, about to engulf the little samurai…

As before, a coin flashed into being in Laura's hand. She threw it skyward, yelling, "Tails!"

The coin spun, and down below, the Sasuke Samurai #4 was wedging open the jaws of the monster with his naginata…

It spun twice, came to the ground…

…and came up heads.

The naginata broke, and the Enraged Muka Muka swallowed the little samurai with one gulp.

"Since your other little friends are too tricky for me to kill at the moment," Nina concluded, "I'll turn it over to you."

There was a moment's silence, during which Chad asked Gerald, "What does she have in her hand that she can't use to snuff Laura's monsters?"

"The problem with Greed decks is that once they've established the Mukas," Gerald answered, "their hand becomes dead weight – I'm pretty sure Nina's hand is nothing but card-drawing engines that would be tantamount to slitting her own throat at this point. Plus, Laura's lucky that she's got a fairly unbreakable defensive lock, but once that fails her, she's sunk."

_Both valid points,_ Laura thought, _but I'm still in the soup!_ She drew a card, and then winced at the prospect. _Oh, I don't have a choice…_ "I play Graceful Charity," she said.

Gerald and Chad both grimaced.

An angel floated over Laura's head as she drew three cards, the knife-edged coins of Greed carving into her as she drew and sending her Life Points diving to 3,000. She looked at her draws and smiled, tossing a second Gearfried and Nina's Spirit of the Pot of Greed for the drawback. _There are the other parts of my combo. I've had the first part – Greed – out this entire duel…_

As she discarded, two gold coins flew out of the bag representing Nina's Appropriate. She drew two cards, her Muka Muka and Enraged Muka Muka swelling ever larger, and then barely registered the jabbing from Laura's Greed, her Life Points rising to 5,100 from Solemn Wishes before settling at 4,100. (Muka Muka: 2,700/2,400 – 3,300/3,000; Enraged Muka Muka: 4,000/3,400 – 4,800/4,200)

"I set one card facedown, one monster in Defense Mode, and end my turn," Laura said, her face reflecting a new confidence.

Nina drew, her Life Points now 4,600…

"I activate Heavy Slump!" Laura cried.

The cards fell from Nina's hand as she sank to her knees, sent into shock by those words. They were the four words she feared most.

"Heavy Slump?" Chad asked.

Gerald yawned before saying, "It can only go off if Laura's opponent has more than eight cards in their hand. Now she shuffles her hand back into her deck and draws a new hand… of _two_ cards. It's the Muka Muka deck's worst nightmare."

Even as Gerald explained it, a chart appeared in front of Nina, showing a rising line suddenly taking a steep downward curve. The chart then flashed, "LIQUIDATE ASSETS IMMEDIATELY!" Cursing, she shuffled her hand into her deck and drew two cards, her Life Points rising to 5,100 just before the coins tore away at her, sending her back to 4,100 Life Points.

As her hand diminished, Nina's monsters deflated to almost pathetic levels. The Command Knight snarled at Muka Muka, and it skittered for its life, bumping into its owner's heel. The angry girl kicked it back into place. (Muka Muka: 3,300/3,000 – 1,200/900; Enraged Muka Muka: 4,800/4,200 – 2,000/1,400)

"Well?" Laura asked.

Nina's eyes narrowed and she set a card into her Duel Disk. "I set this card facedown, which weakens my monsters just enough to end your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's life. Enraged Muka Muka, snack time!"

Just as Nina had said, the Enraged Muka Muka's Attack Points shrank to 1,600, but it was still strong enough to bite into the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and devour it whole. It belched before returning to Nina's field. Unnoticed by Nina, however, her regular Muka Muka's Attack Points were only 900.

"That's my turn," Nina muttered darkly.

Laura drew another card, tossing it onto her Duel Disk. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon – I hope you enjoyed your Solemn Wishes, because it's not going to last any longer!"

A sudden, hard gust of wind obliterated Nina's trap, sending shards everywhere.

"Next," Laura continued, "I summon the third member of the Sasuke Samurai clan. His name is Sasuke Samurai #3, and I'll call him up in Attack Mode!"

A pale-faced miniature samurai walked out, wearing a blue cloak and holding twin blades. Using the back of one blade, he adjusted his makeup, a risky task as it was near his eye. (1,000/1,000) As always, the combined influence of Command Knight and The A. Forces caused him to stand with more confidence. (1,000/1,000 – 2,000/1,000)

Gerald yawned again, deeper this time, which caught Chad's attention.

"Sasuke Samurai #3," Laura commanded, "attack Nina's Muka Muka with Ronin's Tanto!"

Leaping forward, the samurai rammed his swords through either side of the Muka Muka, causing it to stumble to the ground and shatter into a thousand pieces. Nina's Life Points lowered to 3,000.

"Now the real fun," Laura explained. "When the Sasuke Samurai #3 damages your Life Points, you get to draw until you have seven cards."

For a moment, Nina grinned wickedly… and then she gasped and cried, "No! Your Greed card is still in play!"

Her face a mask of anger, Laura said simply, "Draw."

Nina was visibly shivering now, even as she put her hand over her deck. She drew a card…

…and one of the coins of Greed turned into a knife and stabbed her in the stomach.

She drew again, and was stabbed in the leg. On the third draw, a knife struck her kidneys. The fourth draw's coin stabbed her in the arm, and the fifth in the foot. The last draw's coin struck her in the chest, and she fell to her knees, her Life Points plummeting all the way to zero.

Gerald, as per usual, was asleep immediately after the last impact. Chad looked at him for a moment, and then pushed him off the steps. To his shock, the lazy young man _still_ didn't wake up.

After setting the now-unconscious Nina back on her motorcycle, Laura walked up to the duo, sitting next to Gerald and waiting for him to wake up. This took only a moment, and as he sat up, he smiled to her. "Good game," he said. "By the way, do you have Sasuke Samurai #2 in there as well?"

"Thanks, and yes, but I didn't draw him," she replied, smiling almost shyly. "But to be honest, that duel felt a little too easy…"

Chad's eyes narrowed. "You've got a point… I don't think your Life Points ever dipped past 4,000. Something's up…"

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander had watched the entire duel without saying a word. The two calmly looked to each other as the duel ended, and then shut off the mirror array. They calmly rose from their seats and walked over to the phone.

Alexander calmly picked up the receiver and handed it to Degas, and Degas calmly hit a specific number on the speed dial.

**0000000 **

In her safe house, Menardi sighed a little. "Mildly disappointing," she said as the duel ended. Her cell phone rang, and she answered it…

"_That was pathetic!" _Degas yelled over the line, causing Menardi to jump. "What sort of half-rate excuse for a duelist was that? Don't you even _think_ before sending someone after Gerald's group?"

"I honestly thought she'd be more of a challenge," Menardi replied, rising from her seat and wandering around the room. "Either I was wrong about that or Laura is a better duelist than we gave her credit for…"

"Column A and Column B combined," Degas said, rage still simmering in the undertones of his voice. "You have one more chance, Menardi. If this one falls through, you'll be settling the score yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir…"

There was a pause, and then Degas continued, "Alexander and I will be working the grandest trick on Minneapolis now. I suggest luring them back there; we'll have more power in that area."

"You're doing the grandest trick _now_?" Menardi put one overly-long finger to her pursed lips.

"Thanks to Father Young, we can easily do so. Remember… one shot. That's all." The phone clicked.

Even as she put her cell phone away, Menardi was smiling. _If they're coming to Minneapolis, then I have more than just the one chance. One of my "friends" is currently in the area… and he'll be more than capable of defeating all three of them. After all… he's undefeated._

**0000000**

Back at Canterbury Downs, the three duelists were waiting for Nina to wake up and taunt them with Menardi's voice. They didn't have long to wait, as the woman soon rose her head.

"Hello, Menardi," Gerald said.

After briefly looking nonplussed, the woman spoke in Menardi's metal-edged voice. "I see you've come to anticipate this… You need only face one more challenger before this is over. He'll meet you in Minneapolis before the day is through… You shouldn't be late…" And then Nina collapsed once again.

As one, the three rose and headed for the Corolla… until Gerald stumbled and grabbed his head.

"What's wrong?" Laura asked, holding onto Gerald's arm as he came to a halt.

Chad knew this, and so he answered, "From time to time, the Light sends him some very useful… and painful… visions. That the case?"

There was barely time for Gerald to nod before the vision began.

**0000000**

_Somewhere in the center of Minneapolis, a cloud of darkness faded into being. From the center of the cloud stepped Degas and Alexander, clad in their typical black and green, respectively. _

_The two briefly looked around the city, and then Degas said, "Shall we, my friend?" _

"If we must…" Alexander did not look happy. He undid the front of his shirt, exposing his chest.

_Degas stepped in front of his ally, the palms of his hands glowing black. "Let the night descend," he whispered. "Let the sleepers awaken. Let the world bleed…" And then he slammed his palms into Alexander's chest._

_Black electricity sparked around the two men as Alexander writhed. A dark fog began to gather at their feet, the current rising…_

_And then Alexander threw back his head and yelled in agony, and a wave of utter darkness burst out from his body, rolling over the city like a wave of fire ants over a helpless doe. It sank through buildings, overtook cars, and rose over the Mississippi River._

_  
Every person it touched collapsed, the marks of the Darkness Infection springing to life as it passed by. _

When the wave was established, Degas took his hands off Alexander. The black electricity died down, and the man in green sank to one knee, sweating profusely. "That… is abysmally painful…" he gasped.

_Reaching down, Degas helped Alexander to his feet, smiling. "A sacrifice for a greater cause, my friend," he replied. "Your pain shall soon cease, but this city is ours for good…"_

**0000000**

As the vision ended, Gerald opened his eyes, sitting up slightly. To his surprise, while Chad had wandered away (having seen this enough to know there wasn't any danger), Laura was sitting on the ground next to him. "What did you see?" she asked as he got up.

After a moment to collect his thoughts, Gerald frowned. "This vision was more straightforward than the others… and if what happened was what I think happened, the situation just got much worse…"

**IMPERIA**

Type:Effect Monster

Statistics: Earth/Reptile/Effect/3/500/500

Image: A small lizard with a white fur "collar".

Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned, draw one card.

_Note: This card was first used by Gansley in the original series episode "Isolated in Cyber Space". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

_Coming next chapter: The group returns to Minneapolis, where the situation just went from bad to worse. However, they soon encounter a man who could be a very powerful ally… if they can solve his problem. Chad finds himself drawn into a duel where just keeping his cards out is a task in itself. Fans of Cyber Commander's "Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Messiah" should enjoy this one! Be ready for Chapter Thirteen, "Rubber Soul"!_


	14. Rubber Soul

_**The dueling circuit is still relatively young – only a few years since it started – but already some duelists are beginning to near legendary status. Well, depending on how you define what makes a legend… **_

Of course, the big three names – Yugi Motoh, Seto Kaiba, and Joey Wheeler – all qualify for this status, but they're just the ones everyone knows. There's a raft of other names – Rebecca Hawkins, Mai Valentine, Maximillion Pegasus (but there's argument over whether he counts as a dueling legend)...

**_The trick with a legend is that if you actually encounter them, the luster fades and they seem much more mortal than the stories make them out to be. It's the "feet of clay" problem – nobody's perfect. I suspect that if I were to duel Yugi Motoh, he'd be tough, but not as tough as the stories make him out to be._**

_**  
But then again, I'm facing a legend right now – not quite one of that caliber, but a legend regardless – and I might be wrong about that. Because this legend's kicking the snot out of me!**_

**Chapter Thirteen: Rubber Soul**

It was half an hour after Gerald had shared his vision with his companions, and now the '86 Corolla GTS reentered Minneapolis, slowly driving along the streets. Gerald and Laura sat in the back again, with Chad at the wheel, and all three stared out over the streets.

"This city is _dead_," Laura whispered.

"It's just like St. Paul now," Chad confirmed. "There's nobody here… It's just like we thought."

Gerald finished the chain of thought: "That wave was the Darkness Infection. The people of this city are in no condition to help us now… assuming we don't have to duel half the population."

There was silence in the car for a moment as it drove through the empty city, and then Laura broke the silence in the name of her sanity. "But why would Degas and Alexander hit this city as well?" she asked. "You'd think they have more than enough servants…"

"I think it ties into their overall plan," Gerald replied. "As to what that plan is… I'm not going to make any guesses right now, since I'm not certain, but I think I know."

Tapping his hand on the steering wheel, Chad sighed and once again wondered what he was doing here. _Maybe I really don't have anything better to do…_

Suddenly, a man walked out of an alleyway near the Corolla's current location, and everyone in the car jumped.

"Excuse me!" the man yelled at the passing car, soon trotting alongside it. "Could you stop, please? I need help! Please?"

Chad just kept driving, Gerald and Laura staring out the windows at the man.

Finally, their pursuer sighed, muttered, "Oh, bugger it," and stepped directly in front of the car, yelling, "_Stop!_"

There was a loud squeal as Chad slammed on the brakes, and then all three of the car's occupants sprang out (or slid out, in Gerald's case), Duel Disks at the ready.

Now that they weren't looking through safety glass, the three got a good look at the man. He was fairly stocky, standing just taller than Laura, and a perpetually irritated look was drawn across his face. His skin was a disturbingly pale shade, and he had light blonde hair and gray eyes; he also had a long goatee. He wore a dark blue suit of immaculate cleanliness and cut, and carried a walking stick in his left hand; in his right hand he held a top hat. From the looks of it, he was in his thirties.

To Gerald, Chad, and Laura's surprise and relief, neither his hands nor his eyes showed any sign whatsoever of the Darkness Infection.

"All right, friend," Gerald asked, "why do you need our aid?"

The man sighed and said, "Because you're the only people in this town that the Darkness Infection hasn't touched. But I suppose I'm being overly rude, given my circumstances…" He bowed. "My name is Demetrius Lark."

The name caused Gerald and Chad to take a few steps back, but merely confused Laura. "Umm… I know that name, but who exactly is he?" she asked.

After taking a breath, Chad said, "I suppose you're out of the loop… This man is one of the biggest names in dueling. He's won championships in pretty much every state west of the Rocky Mountains!"

"And every Canadian province," Gerald added, before returning the bow and saying, "My name is Gerald Laxina. My companions here are Chad Montmelier and Laura Vesnic."

"Ah, Gerald Laxina," Demetrius replied, smiling. "The Laziest Duelist Alive?"

Gerald's face fell, and he exhaled. "Guilty. I see you've heard of me as well…"

The older man nodded, setting his walking stick back to the ground and donning his top hat. "Indeed. You're part of why I have yet to enter Maine." He then sighed and said, "But we don't have all day to talk shop. I'm afraid I must request your assistance in a fairly… urgent manner."

"Let me guess," Laura said. "It involves the Darkness Infection?"

Again Demetrius sighed. "Precisely. I'd settle it myself, but part of the problem makes that impossible…. I'll explain on the way. Right now, we need to get to the Wells Fargo Center."

The three allies looked to each other and shrugged, heading back to the Corolla.

**0000000**

Adjusting the mirror, Menardi sat back and smirked evilly as the car took off. "Oh, Demetrius, you never cease to amuse me…"

Her phone rang, and she answered it with some trepidation, holding it a short ways from her ear.

Thankfully, when Degas spoke, it was calm and even impressed. "Very impressive," he said. "I haven't followed the dueling scene lately, but even I've heard of Demetrius Lark. That should ensure that your last chance won't fail quite as bad as your previous chances."

The woman chuckled, admitting, "Actually, he isn't even my last chance. That one's still en route to Minneapolis. Demetrius was just a lucky accident… and thanks to your grandest trick, he's the perfect weapon."

There was a pause, and then Degas chuckled as well. "Clever. I suppose I can let this slide…"

"How is Alexander doing, by the way?"

"At the moment, he's recovering. The grandest trick took… a lot out of him."

"I wish him well," Menardi said. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to keep an eye on this."

"As do I," Degas replied.

Both hung up and returned their concentration to the mirrors.

**0000000**

Demetrius was sitting in the passenger seat of the Corolla, his hat on his lap, as it made its (somewhat faster) way through the streets of Minneapolis towards the building.

"So," Gerald finally asked, "what happened to your deck?"

"This will be a long story, but we have time," the elegantly-clad duelist began. "I was in town for a meeting with a long-time friend of mine, the current champion of Minneapolis. As I was making my way to a café for a lunch appointment with the man, two men stepped out of a dark cloud in the center of the street. I couldn't help but watch them.

"One of the men bared his chest, and the other laid hands on him… and then the entire world turned dark around us."

Hearing this confirmation of the vision caused the other three to sigh.

Demetrius continued, "I tried to run, but the darkness caught me before I was more than three steps away from my starting point. I cannot describe to you the horrible feeling of the Darkness Infection entering my body…"

"How did you know it was the Darkness Infection?" Laura asked.

"After the wave struck, I saw someone else it hit, and the symptoms matched how they described the disease that hit St. Paul." He took a breath and resumed: "It felt like ten thousand hands clawing at my very soul. I fought with all my will, but I couldn't even slow it down…

"But then I remembered the year I spent in Tibet, studying at a monastery in an attempt to clean my soul – I was a strange man in my twenties – and how I had learned to create a tulpa, or thoughform, through sheer willpower. With the last of my strength, I forced myself to concentrate with all my might on forcing the Darkness Infection out of my body and into the tulpa.

"It worked! I had successfully purged myself of the infection and forced it into the tulpa, saving myself from being taken over by darkness."

Gerald interrupted him: "So to put it another way, you took a force of pure darkness and gave it a physical form in this world."

The older man sighed. "It was the best I could do at that point. My options were somewhat limited, as you might expect… Still, I soon realized that I had made quite the mistake.

"The realization came when the tulpa punched me in the face and stole my Duel Disk, with my deck inside. As I lay on the ground with a bruised jaw, cursing myself for not having made the tulpa appear farther from myself, it told me that I could get my deck back by coming to the Wells Fargo Center. With that, it took off running.

"I'm no idiot, however – I knew that facing the tulpa would end with my successful infection by the Darkness. That's why I need a duelist to face the tulpa and defeat it, so that I can destroy it and reclaim my deck."

"Why can't you just destroy it outright?" Chad asked, slowing down slightly as they neared the building in question.

"I tried that," Demetrius answered. "It's possible for a tulpa's creator to dispose of it by concentrating… but when I tried it, the tulpa merely laughed. I believe the Darkness Infection inside it has strengthened its form to the point that my will alone is not sufficient to destroy it. However, I also believe that if it is defeated in a duel, the shock of defeat should weaken its hold on this world enough for me to do away with it."

There was a long moment of silence as the car came to a halt, and Gerald, Laura, and Chad looked back and forth between each other. Finally, Chad said, "I'll do it."

Demetrius looked startled, but soon regained his composure, saying, "So you actually believe all of that? I thought for sure you'd think I was insane."

"Given what we've seen so far, you're not even in the yellow zone for insanity," Gerald replied.

**0000000**

A very disturbing figure stood in front of the Wells Fargo Center, leaning against a wall and examining its fingernails. From a distance, one could mistake it for Demetrius Lark, although this one wore black clothing instead of Demetrius's blue.

Once you drew within a few feet of the figure, however, the illusion vanished. The creature (for whatever it was worth, it _looked_ male, but ascribing it a gender was inappropriate) was inhumanly gaunt, and its eyes and fingernails were pure black. Darkness flowed around its body like a suffocating aura, visible to the naked eye. It held a deck of Duel Monsters cards in its hands, going through them.

As Gerald's party approached, it looked up and grinned with teeth that verged on fangs. "So foul and fair a day I have not seen," it quietly muttered.

Demetrius stepped forward, staring down his unpleasant look-alike. "Macbeth, Act One, Scene Three. I really hope everything you say isn't a quote from the Bard."

"Oh, I can be original when I like," the tulpa replied. "But to business – I suppose you've come for your deck?"

"That I have."

"Well, tough luck, skinjob – I just looked it over, and I'd have to be a fool to give up something this strong!" The tulpa stuck its tongue out. All four onlookers were disturbed by how said tongue was pure black.

"I wasn't expecting you to give it up willingly," Demetrius answered. "Therefore, I offer you this challenge – if you can defeat someone dueling on my behalf, the deck's yours. If you lose, I'm taking it back."

The tulpa thought about it for a moment, and then grinned. "It sounds like a fair deal. Choose your champion."

Demetrius stepped back, and Chad stepped forward, activating his Duel Disk. In the meantime, the older man, Laura, and Gerald all sat on the hood of the car, watching the duel from there.

_It seems Ulysses was right,_ Chad thought as he prepared himself. _The Darkness can't resist a challenge after all._ "I hope you enjoyed what little life you had, thoughtform," he said.

"You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face!" the tulpa retorted. A jet-black Duel Disk rose from his arm.

"King Lear, Act Four, Scene Two," Demetrius cited.

As the duelists's Life Point counters rose to 8,000, Chad asked, "What should I call you?"

"I'll spare you a quote from Romeo and Juliet…" The tulpa thought a second before answering, "Call me Prospero. That is as good a name as any."

"You bastard," Demetrius growled. "That was the name of my grandfather…"

Laura looked at him, asking, "Shakespearean names run in your family, don't they?"

"Every male child is named after a character from the works of Shakespeare," he explained. "My own sons are named Mercutio and Iago." He paused. "I do hope I get my deck back; I plan on passing it down to them."

The duelists drew their opening hands.

"I think we can trust Chad to succeed," Laura said.

"I'm not so sure," Gerald replied. "After all, Demetrius is undefeated for a reason, and Prospero takes after him…"

With that, the duel began.

Before Chad could say anything, Prospero drew a card, declaring, "As the challenged, I shall take the opening move." It studied its first few cards, and then set two of them into its Duel Disk. "These two I will set facedown, and then I set one monster in Defense Mode." The facedown monster shimmered into view. "That shall be my turn."

Chad drew his own first card, looking warily at Prospero's field. He then smirked. "You realize that deck's theme is a matter of public record, right?" he said.

"Well, of course," the tulpa replied. "Remember, I was born from the thoughts of Demetrius Lark – I picked up his memory in the process."

"Haven't you realized what that means?" Chad asked. "It means I know _everything_ about your deck – it's the deck of a famous champion! You couldn't surprise me if you wanted to!"

Gerald's eyes widened. "Never thought about that…" he admitted.

"I haven't kept up with the national scene recently… what is your deck?" Laura asked Demetrius, blushing.

"The word that best describes it is 'rubber'," Demetrius replied.

"Rubber?" She then thought about it. "Oh."

Back in the duel, Chad continued, "Since I know what your deck is up to, I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and a card facedown. I'll end on that."

"Well, aren't you clever," Prospero muttered. "Still, not clever enough… I flip my Hane-Hane into Attack Mode!"

One of the most bizarre monsters ever floated into view. It was, in essence, a giant, winged nose with a scythe. (450/500)

Suddenly, its entire body crinkled, and with a massive "ACHOO!" the Hane-Hane expelled a massive gust of wind. Chad's monster, a Soul Tiger, was seen briefly before the wind sent it flying back into his hand.

"I suppose that explained his Flip Effect…" Prospero said. "Now, in order to make things even more difficult for you, I play the Magic Card known as The Dark Door!"

Darkness filled the air between the duelists, leaving only a shimmering green rectangle between them.

Chad sighed. "I know this one. The door only accepts one monster per turn, I take it?"

"Exactly," the tulpa replied. "Thus, we may only attack with one monster. Now I summon Mataza the Zapper in Attack Mode…"

A ronin in green armor stepped forward, wearing a white headband. He raised his sword and drew it slowly. (1,300/800)

"Oh, crap," Gerald, Laura, and Demetrius all said simultaneously.

"I see they worked it out," Prospero said, grinning. "Simply put, I may only attack with one monster… but nothing says how _often_ that monster can attack. Mataza can attack twice, and so he will! Zap him, Mataza!"

The ronin blurred for a moment, and then appeared behind Chad, his blade outstretched. The young man raised an eyebrow, and then gasped as the hit kicked in and his Life Points dropped to 6,700.

Suddenly, the ronin spun around, his sword lashing across Chad's back. Now the artist let out an outright cry of pain as his Life Points fell to 5,400. With that, Mataza leapt back through the Dark Door and stood in front of his master anew.

Prospero laughed, saying, "Oh, what men do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do!"

"Much Ado About Nothing, Act Four, Scene One, and might I add you've dragged that line _far_ out of context," snarled Demetrius.

"Ah, well," the tulpa concluded. "That concludes my turn. Now do what you can, knowing it won't last long."

Scowling as the Darkness Infection appeared on his hands, Chad drew a card, glancing at it. _Say…_ "I'll summon my Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode," he began.

The eyeless, feral dog stepped into view, growling in the back of its throat. (1,900/1,400)

Underneath the dog, however, the ground began to crumble and crack as Prospero tripped a face-down card. "I activate my Trap Hole," it said, "so say your goodbyes to your little puppy!"

"I think not," Chad answered, activating his own facedown card. "I'll use my Trap Card, Beast Soul Swap, and send the Mad Dog back to my hand."

The Mad Dog of Darkness vanished in a burst of light, just as the ground finally gave way and exposed an endless pit.

"Next," Chad continued, "I'll use the other half of the Soul Swap's effect to Special Summon my Pitch-Black Warwolf!"

A black-furred, snarling lycanthrope carrying a large sword strode onto Chad's field, both eyes locked onto Prospero. (1,600/600)

The tulpa merely smirked. "If my pilfered memory serves me right, that wretched mutt makes my Trap Cards worthless during the Battle Phase. But nothing says I can't activate one _now…_ I activate Ordeal of a Traveler!"

The Great Sphinx of Giza rose up behind Prospero, concealing the Wells Fargo Building. Once it was in place, the tulpa sat down on its stone paws.

"I know well what that thing does, but I have to risk it," Chad declared. "Pitch-Black Warwolf, attack Hane-Hane with Lupine Blade!"

As the werewolf charged Prospero's field, Laura asked, "What _does_ it do?"

"Chad has to choose one card from the tulpa's hand," Demetrius explained, "and guess whether it's a Monster, Magic, or Trap Card. If he gets it right, the attack continues; if he fails, the monster is bounced to his hand. It's a key element of my deck…"

"And it works because the Warwolf does nothing to Continuous Traps that are already active," Gerald finished.

Once the Pitch-Black Warwolf was through the Dark Door, the sphinx stared it down. Prospero let go of its cards, and they spun about in midair until coming to a halt. "Choose one and guess, Chad," it taunted its opponent.

With a moment's thought, Chad shut his eyes and pointed at the left card. "I'll say that's a monster!"

Prospero cursed vociferously as the card turned around… and revealed itself as a Chain Thrasher.

The sphinx pulled back, and the now-unobstructed lycanthrope brought its blade down hard on the winged nose. It collapsed and shattered, taking Prospero's Life Points to 6,850.

"I'll set this facedown," Chad concluded as a face-down card appeared, "and end my turn."

As it drew a card, the tulpa shook its head. "Blast you… I set one monster in Defense Mode and switch Mataza to Defense Mode..." The defending monster appeared in front of Prospero as Mataza knelt before it. "You may make your move."

Chad merely shrugged, drawing another card to his hand. "You already know about him, so I'll summon the Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode."

The eyeless dog again appeared before its master, snarling in frustration. (1,900/1,400)

"And now…" Chad began, but then he paused. _I only get one attack. I'd have to be stupid to attack that face-down monster… unless it's like Sol's Golem Sentry and has to be Flip Summoned. This is a chance to destroy Mataza… but what if I run afoul of that Ordeal? Argh…_

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt," Prospero quoted.

Demetrius, on the sideline, replied, "Measure for Measure, Act One, Scene Four."

"You shut up!" the tulpa shouted back.

Finally, Chad ordered, "Mad Dog of Darkness, attack Mataza the Zapper!"

As before, the sphinx moved in front of Prospero, and the tulpa let its cards whirl between its hands. "Make your choice," it told Chad.

_Odds are good he played that Chain Thrasher,_ Chad thought. "I'll say the card on my right is a Trap," he guessed.

The card on his right turned around… and it was Chrain Thrasher.

"What?" he cried.

Prospero shrugged as it took the cards back. "Your bad luck, meatbag. Now that little puppy of yours is going back to your hand."

The onlookers all winced, even Gerald.

The eyes of the sphinx glowed, and beneath the duelists, the earth shook. Suddenly, a variety of inhuman spirits came into being, grabbing hold of the Mad Dog of Darkness and carting it back to Chad's hand. After tucking it in firmly, they flew to the sphinx and sank into it, disappearing until next time.

Slapping his forehead, Chad took a card from his hand and slid it into the Duel Disk. "That's my turn," he concluded.

The tulpa drew, flashing another befanged grin. "I flip my Penguin Soldier face-up!" it announced.

A tiny penguin in armor and bearing a sword rose, quacking quietly. (750/500)

"When my Penguin Soldier is flipped," Prospero continued, "I can send up to two monsters in play back to their owner's hands. Make some room for that wolf-man of yours…"

"It's not a wolf-man," Chad said as he activated his face-down card. "It's a werewolf. And I'm not letting you send him anywhere – I activate my Ring of Destruction and target him."

A mysterious, watery mist began to form around the Pitch-Black Warwolf's feet… but then a ring studded with grenades appeared around the lupine's neck. It whimpered…

"Sorry, Warwolf," Chad said quietly, covering his ears.

The resulting explosion was of a caliber large enough to obliterate the sphinx's nose, fill the area between both duelists with smoke, knock Laura and Demetrius off the hood of the car, and barely muss Gerald's hair. Part of the street seemed to vanish, but this was just more of the hologram concealing it.

As the smoke cleared, the Pitch-Black Warwolf was nowhere to be seen and Chad and Prospero were both getting to their feet, Chad's Life Points at 3,800 and Prospero's at 5,250.

"This was the unkindest cut of all," the tulpa growled, dusting itself off and retrieving its top hat.

As usual, Demetrius cited, "Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2."

There was a pause, and then the tulpa yelled, "That's it!" while forming a ball of darkness on its hand and throwing it at the car. Said car was engulfed in a shell of dark energy, which rippled and warped as it trapped the three onlookers.

"If you did anything to them…" Chad began.

"I did nothing to them," Prospero replied. "I merely shut them up for the time being. When this duel is over, the shell will drop, for better or for worse."

The artist took a deep breath, feeling the Darkness Infection establish itself along his neck. "All right…"

With a grunt, Prospero resumed its turn. "Since Penguin Soldier's effect has yet to resolve, I'll return it to my hand via that effect."

The mist surrounded the Penguin Soldier, and it disappeared from the field, appearing now in Prospero's hand.

"Next," it went on, "I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three…" It did so. "And discard two." Two cards, one of which Chad recognized as Chain Thrasher, slid into the tulpa's Graveyard.

"I set a monster in Defense Mode," Prospero continued, "and attack you directly with Mataza the Zapper! Ronin's Sting!"

But even as the ronin prepared to pass through the Dark Door, Chad hit his face-down card. "Negate Attack!" he cried.

The ronin charged forward, and slammed directly into the invisible wall. After toppling over, he pulled himself to his feet and limped away, muttering curses.

"With that being the case," Prospero grumbled, "I set a card facedown and put an end to my turn."

Chad drew, thinking, _I need to stop that accursed Ordeal…_ He smiled, and played the card he'd drawn. "I'll use Reload to shuffle my hand back into my deck and get a new hand," he began.

After doing so, his eyes widened. "Next," he continued, "I activate the Magic Card known as Spiritualism. With this card, I can send any Magic or Trap Card back to your hand – and _nothing_ can stop that from happening! For the time being, your Ordeal is sealed away!"

Prospero bit its lip.

A gaggle of ghosts burst free from the Spiritualism card, floating across the field. They picked up the damaged sphinx, ripping it from its foundations, and carted it back to Prospero's hand, bits of stone raining along the way. Once their work was done, the ghosts vanished.

"Next," Chad continued, "I summon Berserk Gorilla!"

The enraged primate stormed onto Chad's field, its fists pounding holes into the concrete.

"I'm not dumb enough to halt its advance," Chad went on, "so go get that Zapper, Berserk Gorilla!"

With a roar, the gorilla charged forward, grabbed Mataza by the arms, raised the ronin overhead and repeatedly slammed it into the ground, right up to the point where it shattered and all the gorilla still held were the arms.

**0000000**

Within the ball of darkness, the three spectators could no longer see the duel… but could still hear it. All three grimaced.

"We're luckier _not_ to see that one," Gerald noted.

**0000000**

After his monster died, Prospero glanced to its Life Point counter and watched it click to 4,550. It then flashed a grin and declared, "I activate my Trap, Begone, Knave!"

A steel door flashed into being, along with an angry-looking guard.

"Hmm?" Chad said. "Remind me what that does."

"Every time one of us takes Battle Damage," Prospero replied, "the monster that did it goes back to our hand. Take him away!"

The guard grabbed hold of the Berserk Gorilla's arms, only to engage in a brief wrestling match with the beast. After a moment, he kicked the door open with one foot and shoved the primate into it…

…whereupon it reappeared in Chad's hand. The artist merely groaned and said, "I end my turn with that."

Prospero drew its next card, smiling and giving a small laugh. "I'll set a card facedown," it began, "and summon the Chain Thrasher in Attack Mode."

A blonde man in light clothing and chain sleeves stepped onto the field, holding the business end of a spiked chain in one hand and the rest of the chain in the other. (1,000/600)

Chad took a step back and crossed his fingers.

"For every one of his allies in my Graveyard," Prospero noted, "this fellow can attack once. I put one there with Graceful Charity, so… Chain Thrasher, attack his Life Points directly with Chain Rend!"

Spinning the business end of his chain overhead, the Chain Thrasher leapt skyward and threw the chain down. It wrapped five times around Chad's body, whereupon the Chain Thrasher stood on the man's chest and tightened it. Chad let out a cry of shock, his Life Points falling to 2,800.

Before anything else could happen, however, the soldier from Prospero's Begone, Knave! marched up and unwrapped the chain, throwing it to the ground. The Chain Thrasher, irritated, turned and started shouting at the soldier… only to get clubbed over the head with the butt end of the spear. With that, the soldier dug his fingers into the warrior's collar, dragged him to the door, and tossed him through.

The Chain Thrasher reappeared in the tulpa's hand, and it shrugged. "Unfortunately for me, Begone, Knave! affects both sides. So I'll end my turn on that."

Chad rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ignore the clammy feeling of his blackened skin. He looked at his cards, and then smiled. "I don't have much choice, so… Chiron the Mage, in Attack Mode!"

The armored, blonde-haired centaur trotted out, wielding his orb-topped staff. (1,800/1,000)

"Now, by discarding a Magic Card…" He slid his Invigoration into the Graveyard. "I can destroy one Magic or Trap Card on your field! Chiron, destroy his face-down card!"

The centaur aimed his staff at the facedown card and let loose a bolt of energy. The card, Prospero's Ordeal of a Traveler, shattered.

"I set this facedown," Chad finished, "and I'll end my turn with that."

As Prospero drew, it grumbled, "So wise so young, they say do never live long…"

**0000000**

"King Richard III, Act 3, Scene 2," Demetrius recited.

Laura shook her head. "You can't help it, can you?"

"It's an uncontrollable impulse."

**0000000**

Glancing between its cards and the field, Prospero finally took a card from its hand and set it facedown. "I set this facedown," it said, "and set one monster in Defense Mode. My turn will end with that."

Chad drew, gave the card a look, and then played it. "I play my Pot of Greed." He drew twice, took one of those cards, and shouted, "And then I activate Nobleman of Crossout on your facedown monster!"

The effeminate knight strode out of the card, drawing his shining blade. He rammed this blade through Prospero's monster, which briefly appeared as the winged nose of Hane-Hane before fading out.

"Argh…" the tulpa groaned as the last Hane-Hane in its deck vanished as well.

The artist grinned, noting, "That's one less rubber band to worry about. With that taken care of, I summon my Berserk Gorilla once again!"

Again, the feral primate jumped into view, slamming its palms on the ground. (2,000/1,000) This time, it seemed more than a little frustrated.

"Time to turn it loose – Berserk Gorilla, attack Prospero's facedown monster!" Chad ordered.

The gorilla passed through the Dark Door and reached into the tulpa's facedown card. After a moment, the ape started wrestling with the revealed monster, a large man in rough clothing with disheveled hair. The man finally used the Berserk Gorilla's weight against it, hurling the monster away; it reappeared atop Chad's deck. The effort involved finally overtook the man, and he collapsed, shattering.

The tulpa smirked, explaining, "That was the Legendary Jujitsu Master. Whenever a monster battles him, he 'spins' them back onto the top of their controller's deck – win or lose, live or die."

With a shrug, Chad said, "I'll end with that."

_I'm in trouble…_ thought Prospero. Drawing its next card, it muttered, "I play my own Pot of Greed." It drew twice, and then smirked. "I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode. That will be it for me…" The two cards appeared, and the tulpa grinned at Chad through the Dark Door.

Chad redrew his Berserk Gorilla, grimacing at the fact. He then looked over his hand and shrugged. "I summon Berserk Gorilla once more and end my turn."

As he said it, the gorilla appeared once again, slamming its fist repeatedly into the ground in rage. (2,000/1,000)

The tulpa drew again, and then began to laugh. "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it!" it announced.

**0000000**

Within the sphere of darkness, Demetrius seemed stressed. Finally, Gerald looked to him and said, "Get it over with."

"Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2," the older man said with a gasp.

**0000000**

Chad glanced at the facedown monster, thought back through the duel up to that point, and said, "Penguin Soldier?"

"Exactly!" Prospero answered. "So I'll flip it face-up and send those beasts back to your hand!"

The Penguin Soldier appeared again, brandishing its sword. It waved the blade before it, summoning the watery mist around Chad's Chiron the Mage and Berserk Gorilla. Soon, the mist faded, taking those monsters with it.

Both appeared in Chad's hand, and he narrowed his eyes. _I am **so** tired of this…_

"Now," Prospero continued, "I summon the Armed Samurai Ben Kei!"

A man in beat-up leather armor emerged from a sandstorm, carrying a massive basket of weapons on his back. He looked tired, but there was a spark of energy in his eyes. (500/800)

Chad raised an eyebrow. "I've heard of Benkei… He was a monk who sought to collect 1,000 weapons from passing swordsmen to prove his might. On the thousandth duel, he was defeated by Minamoto Yoshitsune, and served him ever afterwards. I presume this samurai is him earlier in his career?"

"Indeed, and there are some weapons in his collection he's outright scared of," Prospero replied. "Such as this one, number 457, the Axe of Despair!"

With a moment's trepidation, the monk took a wicked axe from the basket on his back. (500/800 – 1,500/800)

"Finally," the tulpa finished, "I play Emergency Provisions and feed my Begone, Knave! to it, giving me 1,000 Life Points – and more importantly, allowing me to finish this fight! For every Equip Magic Card he holds, Ben Kei can attack an additional time!"

This time, the weird mouth swallowed the panicking guard whole as Prospero's Life Points rose to 5,550.

**0000000**

"Well, we tried…" Demetrius began.

Laura looked to Gerald, and Gerald shrugged. "I don't feel the need to yawn," he replied.

Encouraged, Laura said, "It's not over yet…"

**0000000**

"Ben Kei," Prospero ordered, "attack Chad with Thousand Battle Strike!"

The armed warrior hefted his axe, took a step back, and threw himself forward…

…and suddenly, Chad was clad in shining armor. The Axe of Despair struck it, and there was a tremendous explosion. When it ended, Ben Kei stood there, still standing but obviously dead.

"The Standing Death of Ben Kei," Chad noted. "How appropriate, even if it was my Sakuretsu Armor that killed him and not a bunch of arrows."

He blew on the monster corpse and it fell over, shattering.

The tulpa gulped and muttered, "End turn."

Chad drew and instantly said, "I summon the Berserk Gorilla one more time!"

_This_ time, the gorilla was beyond berserk – it screamed and howled, smashing a gigantic hole in the pavement. (2,000/1,000… again)

"Relax, you'll _really_ get to hurt him this time," Chad told it. "See that penguin? Kill it."

The gorilla smashed through the Dark Door, grabbed the Penguin Soldier, and thrashed it over and over again into the street. Squeaking noises filled the air until the poor waterfowl shattered. Prospero groaned as its Life Points fell to 4,300.

**0000000**

"That poor, poor penguin," Gerald said.

Demetrius solemnly took off his top hat and held it before him, bowing his head.

**0000000**

"I think that will do for me," Chad concluded.

As it drew its next card, the tulpa shook in fright. "I… set a monster in Defense Mode… and end my turn…" it stammered.

Chad drew his card and then stopped. _It's one of the cards I got from Ulysses!_ "I summon Exarion Universe in Attack Mode!" he announced.

An exotic centaur, clad in black metal armor, emerged from a void in space. It had green skin – what could be seen of it; even its face was masked – and wings coming from its hooves. One hand bore a delicate but intricately-crafted lance. (1,800/1,900)

"This monster is a master at controlling the cosmic forces in its body," Chad continued. "During my Battle Phase, it can cut its Attack Points by 400, and in exchange, it can damage your Life Points through Defense Mode monsters…"

Prospero smirked, noting, "But it can't attack. The Dark Door only lets one monster through each turn, and your Berserk Gorilla _has_ to attack me!"

In response, Chad shrugged. "Not really. The official Industrial Illusions ruling is that I can send whichever monster I please through the Dark Door – it prevents the others from attacking, which doesn't hurt the Berserk Gorilla in any way."

After a moment's thought, the tulpa gulped again.

"With that being the case, I'll invoke Exarion Universe's effect and send it through the Dark Door! Exarion Universe, attack his facedown monster with Stardust Javelin!" Chad ordered.

The world bent around the Exarion Universe, as a stream of shimmering green light surrounded the lance in its hand. (1,800/1,900 – 1,400/1,900) It then galloped forward, passing through the Dark Door, and levitated over the duelists's heads.

With a single gesture, it propelled the lance through the facedown monster. The monster, now revealed as a Chain Thrasher, struggled with the impaling weapon for a moment before collapsing, slain.

Prospero spat an unintelligible curse as its Life Points hit 3,500.

Chad gave his hand one more glance before saying, "Take your turn."

With shaking hands, the tulpa drew its next card, and then its eyes widened. _All right… this will be tricky, but if it works, the game is mine. _"I play Monster Reborn," it began, "to bring back my Legendary Jujitsu Master in Defense Mode…"

The martial artist crouched before Prospero, arms crossed.

"And then I sacrifice it," it continued, "for a monster in facedown Defense Mode. You may go."

The Jujitsu Master disappeared, replaced with a facedown monster.

_Even if he attacks my Guardian Sphinx, which prevents its ability from working, _Prospero thought, _he can't kill it outright. That should give me time to get protections in place, and if I activate its ability even once, this duel is mine!_

**0000000**

Inside the dark sphere, Gerald yawned. Demetrius raised an eyebrow, but Laura simply said, "This duel's almost over."

**0000000**

Chad drew and smirked. "I tribute my Berserk Gorilla and Exarion Universe," he declared, "to summon Behemoth the King of All Animals in Attack Mode!"

_NO!_ thought the tulpa. _Not that! That will destroy my sphinx, and then I'm sunk!_

Exarion Universe and the Berserk Gorilla vanished, replaced by the overwhelming presence of the pink-skinned, purple-furred beast known as Behemoth. (2,700/1,500)

"As per his effect, I'll take back two beasts from my Graveyard… Behemoth," Chad ordered, "attack with Wild Monarch's Crash!"

The king of all animals raised his paw and stamped down hard, shattering the Guardian Sphinx to pieces underneath it.

"Make your move," the artist dared the tulpa.

After drawing its card, Prospero fell to his knees. "I can't do a damn thing."

Chad drew and immediately played his draw, declaring, "Mystical Space Typhoon will blow that Dark Door open…"

A massive gust of wind tore the Dark Door to pieces.

"And I'll summon my Chiron the Mage once more," he went on.

Once again, the armored blonde centaur emerged, staff at the ready. (1,800/1,000)

"Behemoth, attack the tulpa with Wild Monarch's Crash!" Chad ordered.

That massive paw rose over Prospero, who futilely covered its head with its arms before the paw came down. There was a pause, and then it got to its feet, its Life Points down to 900.

"And now, Chiron," Chad finished, "end the duel altogether!"

The centaur raised his staff, sighting down it at Prospero. The tulpa stepped left, but the staff followed it. It stepped right, and the staff followed it. Finally, it tried to run, only to get blasted with a bolt of energy in the back, sending its Life Points to zero.

As the dark sphere dissipated, Demetrius rose off the hood of the car. Laura, meanwhile, sat next to Gerald; she couldn't move, as his head was on her shoulder and he was fast asleep. She wasn't sure whether that was a bad thing.

The older duelist stormed up to the tulpa, who was on the ground and crawling for its life. After seeing its creator approach, Prospero turned and hissed, "A plague on both your houses!"

"Romeo and Juliet, Act Three, Scene One," Demetrius said automatically. "Now it's my turn to quote… 'This thing of darkness…'" He gestured to the tulpa. "'…I acknowledge mine.' The Tempest, Act Five, Scene One. Time to clean up my mess."

"No… no…"

Demetrius Lark shut his eyes, his mind focused to a single point. At the same time, a small point at the center of Prospero's body began to fade away. The tulpa shot to its feet, dropping the deck, which scattered into its separate cards. Chad stepped forward and began to put it back together.

More of the tulpa's body began to fade, and it backed away from its creator, slamming into the door of the Wells Fargo Building. Finally, with one last cry of discontent, the thoughtform vanished completely, leaving no trace it ever existed.

Gerald awoke at that sound, and then narrowed his eyes, glancing about. "Huh… thought I'd heard something. Guess it doesn't matter."

Laura pushed him off of her shoulder, whereupon he sat upright; she'd briefly expected him to fall onto his other side. "Do you even exist in the same dimension as the rest of us?" she asked.

"I think so…"

After getting the last card back into Demetrius's deck, Chad handed it over to the older man. He smiled, taking the deck back and sliding it into his pocket. "I don't know how to thank you," he said, sighing in relief. "Not only have you gotten back my deck, but you've helped me rid myself of that twice-damned tulpa. I'm a little lost as to how to repay you…"

Gerald looked to Chad, who shrugged, and then to Laura, who didn't look back to him. "I don't think we require repayment. This is kind of our job."

"Hmmm… I've heard that some of the Darkness Infected, the ones that are duelists, don't go comatose like the rest. What happens to them?"

"They pick up their decks and start hunting for other duelists to infect," Laura answered. "One defeat and you're infected."

A moment passed, and then Demetrius snapped his fingers. "I have it! As long as the Darkness Infection is still in this city, I won't have any other plans, so… In order to assist you, I will scour this city and defeat any Darkness Infected I find. That way, they'll stay off _your_ back and make your overall job easier. Does that sound acceptable?"

Chad grabbed Demetrius's shoulder and said, "You must be crazy. Did you miss when Laura said 'One defeat and you're infected'?"

"If any petty duel 'zombie' can break my undefeated record, I never deserved to be a duelist in the first place." The older man then grinned. "Don't try to talk me out of it further – I, Demetrius Lark, first among equals, have made my decision!"

Gerald and Laura glanced to each other, and then Gerald said, "Well, we thank you, then."

"Right!" Demetrius raised his hat. "Now that I have my deck back, I shall set about on this task immediately! I thank you once again, my friends… Now go we in content to liberty, and not to banishment." He paused. "As You Like It, Act One, Scene Three… and that's out of context, but at the moment, I don't care." He then crossed his arm before him and bowed.

With that, Demetrius Lark wandered down the street, soon disappearing from their sight.

"I hope we see him again," Chad said.

Gerald replied, "Something tells me you'd need a ballista to stop him, so I think we will."

**0000000**

Menardi sighed, shutting off her mirror for now. "Oh, you stupid tulpa… I see you didn't take any of the good qualities from Demetrius Lark when you copied him." She sighed again. "The ego, though, you copied in full. Oh, my bosses will not be happy about this…"

Just as she said it, her cell phone went off. She turned it on, gnawing on one lip, and put it to her ear before saying, "Hello?"

"Well, that one did better than Nina did, at any rate," Alexander's voice replied. "Perhaps your choices aren't absolute failures after all."

"Thank you, sir," Menardi replied.

Alexander paused for a moment, and then said, "Regardless, make preparations to duel them yourself."

"What?" Menardi yelled. "But, sir, I have one more servant yet! Degas said so himself!"

"And so you do," the man on the other end of the line said. "But we're instituting a large-scale change of plans in how we deal with Gerald and company. We're tired of your Shadow Queen tactics… Therefore, whether or not your last chance succeeds or fails, you'll be challenging Gerald and his friends yourself. If the last chance succeeds, that means you'll have fewer people to take care of when it's your turn. Understood?"

Even as she began to sulk, Menardi answered, "Understood…"

"I'm glad we had this talk," Alexander said before he hung up.

_I was having fun…_ With a shrug, the Pillar shouted, "Hanzaki!"

After a moment, the Lycra-clad man stepped out of a blur in the air. "What do you require?"

"I have some very specific orders for you…"

**0000000**

The man in green hung up his own phone, letting out a sigh. His shirt was still open, and two black handprints were burned onto his chest. Already they had begun to fade, but their mere presence irritated him.

For the time being, Alexander was in his bedchamber, a small room off the central mirror room. It held little more than a nightstand, a radio, and his bed. The radio currently played Acknowledgement's "My Pain".

_It's not like I ever asked to be a human Duracell,_ he thought. _But then, it does have advantages. Being able to tap into my own power is worth the hassle._

The man in black stepped into the room at that point, cutting off Alexander's chain of thought. "Have you informed Menardi as to our new course of action?" he said.

"Just did," Alexander answered. "I think she'll understand our reasoning. After all, every Darkness Infected we've sent after them has fallen, with a minimal struggle if we're lucky. Getting close only counts in nuclear war and horseshoes, to cite the cliché."

Degas nodded, adjusting his shades. "Thankfully, not all of our servants are Darkness Infected. Father Young is the most powerful of that group, but we have more than just him for that purpose…" His voice dropped to just above a whisper. "Such as _him…_"

"Don't even mention his name yet," Alexander cut him off. "I don't want to believe we actually made a deal with that… thing."

"But we did. Hiding our heads in the sand won't change it."

The man in green sighed. "I know. But I don't have to like it."

_Coming next chapter: The last piece of Menardi's game falls into place, as a man of pure darkness steps up to challenge Gerald. Viper was hard enough, but this man has put an utter halt to anything Gerald can do to fight him. With all of his plans failing, can Gerald muster a comeback, or is this it for the Chosen of the Light? Find out in Chapter Fourteen, "Sinner"._


	15. Sinner

**_The further we go along this path, the more powerful the Darkness gets. It's only natural, yes, but I didn't expect the increase in power to be this steep._**

_**First there were the Darkness Infected. Most of them were a challenge, but they weren't as bad as you might think. They were, after all, just ordinary people with a bit of dark tampering.**_

**_Then there was Jean-Vic Viper, the Pillar of Destruction. _That_ fight hurt, because he had pure Darkness on his side as opposed to the infection._**

_**And now I'm battling someone who's got a level of darkness and evil on his side that make Viper look like a mere dabbler. And he knows what he's doing. I can't even touch him.**_

_**May the Light protect me, because if they don't, I seriously doubt my chances of survival…**_

**Chapter Fourteen: Sinner**

A ball of fire bounced its way up two separate buildings, finally coming to a halt on the edge of one. The fireball reformed into Lucifer Allumette, crouched on the roof and staring at a picture.

_Where could you go?_ he thought to himself. _Zese two cities aren't zat large… I know you're here somewhere, but where, of all places, could you be? I'm running out of new places to look…_

He sighed. _And here I abandon my duty to go looking for you. Monsieur Laxina must zink I'm ze devil. Ze fire doesn't help matters much in zat regard. I should look him and his friends up and get back on zeir good side…_

The train of thought derailed as the Ring of Alarms lit up, searing into Lucifer's finger. He winced, tugging it off and setting it on the roof, whereupon it let off smoke. "What in ze name of ze Dreaming could be _zat_ dangerous?" he asked himself.

Turning to another of the rings on his right hand, the Beloved of Fire shut his eyes and whispered, "Ring of Identities, tell me who is making the Ring of Alarms burn so intently." He paused, listening to its whispers…

…and then grabbed the Ring of Alarms, shoved it back on his finger, and burned into the sky as a pillar of flame. _It CAN'T be him! If it is, zen Monsieur Laxina needs to be warned! Ze stakes just shot up!_

**0000000**

Menardi had promised Gerald and his friends that they would face their last challenge in Minneapolis before the day was over, and so the three of them were sitting on the steps of the Wells Fargo Building and waiting on the theory that it would done with quicker if they didn't move. Chad had made a run to a newsstand, which was unmanned now that Minneapolis was infected, and had returned with several Star Tribunes, which all three were skimming over.

After he'd caught himself rereading the same interview with John Cameron for the fifth time, Gerald finally set the paper down. "I wonder if the next challenger got lost on the road," he said.

"A possibility, especially if any of the people who were infected was driving," Chad replied. "I wonder if she'd call that a forfeit."

Laura, still reading a recap of the Nevada State Duel Monsters Championship (Demetrius Lark had won, of course), asked, "If that's the case, then what do we do?"

"The most likely prospect is that we'll wind up dueling her directly after that. After that… well, Jean-Vic said there are four Pillars, so the pattern will likely repeat itself twice. And then?" Gerald shrugged. "At the rate we're going, however, I'm guessing the final battle is within a week."

Chad just stared at his friend. "That's a surprisingly optimistic viewpoint from you…"

"Nobody can be gloomy all day every day."

"So… what are you going to do after this is over?" Laura asked the other two, folding her paper.

Chad shrugged, thinking the familiar thought, _I have no idea what I'm doing…_ "I've got a dream about buying some land, give up the booze and the one-night stands," he started.

Gerald cut him off: "We all know that song, Chad. Be serious."

"Seriously… I have absolutely no clue," Chad answered, looking at his shoes.

"I'll be going back to Maine," Laura said next. "Jessica must be worried about me…" She flipped a page in the newspaper, and then stopped cold. After a moment, she turned it around for the other two to see.

Under the heading "Search for Missing Maine Girl Continues", there was a fairly good photograph of Laura.

"I see you've moved down to page four… You know," Gerald noted, "you never needed to travel with us. We could just leave town and drop you off at a police station anywhere in the area – that would conclude the search and they'd probably get you home. I have to ask… why you are helping us."

There was a long pause as that fact sank in, and then Laura shrugged. "I guess… now that I'm part of this, I just want to see it out…" It didn't sound convincing to her, either, and so she quickly added, "What'll you do when this is over, Gerald?"

"Go home, clean up the apartment, find another job, and settle back into my routine," he answered automatically.

"Not surprising," Chad said. "'Unchanging' is your middle name, after all."

"Actually, it's Randolph."

There was a pause. Finally, Chad asked, "Randolph?"

"My mother was born and raised in Bonn, back when it was still the capital of West Germany. It was her grandfather's name – my great-grandfather."

"Ah. My middle name's Allen, so…" Chad shrugged. "What's yours, Laura?"

"I don't have a middle name," Laura replied.

Gerald raised an eyebrow. "You don't have one?"

"Not everyone does. Other than having to leave the middle initial box blank on some forms, it doesn't really matter."

A cloud of dust rose on the street before their vision, and the three looked into it…

**0000000**

There was a moment's silence somewhere in St. Paul as Degas and Alexander watched the mirror. The man at the center of the cloud of dust stepped into view, and Degas's jaw dropped.

"Who is that man?" Alexander began to ask, only to be ignored. Degas had made his way over to the phone, snatched the receiver up, and slammed the speed dial.

Menardi's cell phone answered a moment later. "Enjoying the spectacle?" she asked.

"Menardi, how did you _find_ him? He vanished a century ago, and everything I did to go searching fell flat!" Degas yelled.

"Would you be willing to believe my feminine wiles did it?"

After a moment, Degas adjusted his sunglasses and said, "I don't think he even cares about gender anymore. He passed that stage in the 1600's. How on Earth did you get him on our side, though?"

Menardi snickered for a moment, and then turned serious. "I was talking to Hanzaki, and he mentioned that there were rumors of vaguely… unpleasant… occurrences in the Hutchinson area. I had him swing me by there, and our friend in the dust cloud was waiting for us. All it took was a brief description of what we were up to, and he got up and said – and I quote – 'I'm tired of waiting for the Dark Man to come back. I need action.' And he took off towards Minneapolis without another word or a look back."

"Intriguing," Degas said. "To think our activities could stir one such as him from his old sleep… So this was your ace in the hole, Menardi?"

"Yes, Degas. Now you see why I asked for that last chance…"

"Understood," Degas said. "I admire your duplicity." With that, he hung up and returned to his chair.

"I'll ask again," Alexander said once the conversation was over. "Who is that?"

Degas merely smiled. "Wait for him to introduce himself and then I'll explain."

**0000000**

"Run for your lives, Pigpen is coming to kill us," Gerald muttered, his voice adopting a sarcastic edge to it.

Even as he said it, however, the dust cloud receded, revealing a man at its center. The man was about Gerald's height, with rust-red hair and pale skin. He wore a black leather vest, with leather straps covering his torso under it, and dark blue pants. Although he was barefoot, it didn't seem to stop him. It was impossible to tell his age from anything about him.

As he looked over Gerald's group, they noticed one last detail about him: his eyes were pure black. Occasionally, little red flecks passed through the space, as if a fire burned within his body.

A minute passed, and finally the man spoke. "Which of you is the Chosen of the Light?"

Sighing, Gerald stepped forward, moving to the side of the Corolla. "That title belongs to me, it seems," he said.

"Chosen of the Light, we will duel, and you will be destroyed," the man said.

There was a stunned silence, and then Laura said, "The Darkness never bothers to teach its duelists tact, does it?"

With a yawn, Gerald held up his Duel Disk and activated it. "Let's get this over with, then. I assume Menardi sent you?"

"Nobody sends me anywhere," the man corrected. "I chose to destroy you, Chosen of the Light, as I am the servant of the Darkness – it is my task. You will not go any further."

"I see… what's your name?"

The man held up his arm, and a jet-black Duel Disk appeared on it after a second, similar to Prospero's in appearance. "I am Jacob Waterknot. Now prepare to die."

Shrugging, Gerald moved around to the other side of the Corolla and leaned on it. "Let's just duel before you get overly dramatic."

"As you have entered this duel voluntarily," Jacob said, "I may invoke my version of a Dark Duel. And so I shall." He raised one hand, and a black circle surrounded the two men.

**0000000**

"Where did he learn how to do that?" Alexander asked.

Degas grinned. "Probably from one of his contractors. Jacob Waterknot is something of a dark legend. Six hundred years ago, he began to make deals with agents of pure Darkness, signing contracts and forging pacts. He has no loyalty except to his power, and so he agreed to serve both sides in several of the Darkness's most bitter feuds.

"Before any of his masters could call in their payments, Jacob slit his throat. This would force any number of the agents of Darkness to war over his soul, a war that would cost them too much, and so they had to bring him back to life and grant him immortality so that the pacts would remain open.

"Ever since then, the name of Jacob Waterknot, the dark servant, is a name to conjure with. He wields unknown levels of dark power, learned from all his different deals. And to think he's on our side…"

Alexander shut his eyes, thought a moment, and asked, "How will we make sure he doesn't try to overthrow us and run the operation himself?"

"This is a different world from six hundred years ago," Degas replied. "Of his many masters, one has risen to the top. There is no argument; once Jacob dies, that one will have his soul all to itself. But Jacob doesn't know that.

"If he tries to overthrow us, I'll just take away his immortality – it would be as easy as peeling a banana, since it only clings to him by dark will. Without it, time will do its dirty work and Jacob will die.

"Wielding the power he does is one thing. Knowing how to counter it is another level of power."

**0000000**

"So… we'll be using our Images, then," Gerald said as he examined the black circle and the lines within.

Jacob shook his head. "This is my version of a Dark Duel, Chosen. Images are not used for this one. No, this Dark Duel bears more in common with the legendary Shadow Games."

"Hmmm?"

"Whatever happens to you or to your surroundings… it's all real now." Jacob held his hand over the deck slot of his Duel Disk. A deck appeared in it. "And let me assure you, my Apocalypse Deck is perfect for a duel like this."

"Apocalypse?" Laura asked Chad. "You think he means the ritual End of the World?"

"Maybe," Chad replied.

"My deck specializes in doing things directly to people," Gerald said, activating his own Duel Disk, "so I don't really care." _Oh, I **hate** dueling while standing up,_ he thought. _And now that the Dark Duel is underway, I can't get to a seat…_

Both Life Point counters went to 8,000.

"Let us begin," Jacob intoned. Before Gerald could do anything, he drew his opening hand, gave his cards a look, and then said, "I set this monster in Defense Mode and end my turn. Make your move, Chosen."

"The name is Gerald," Gerald said. He drew, and then said, "I'll start with Level Limit – Area B, which will force all Level Four or higher monsters into Defense Mode while it's active…"

A shimmering set of blue walls surrounded them, and a pyramid appeared overhead as the Level Limit Area came into being.

"Next," Gerald continued, "I summon the Raging Flame Sprite in Attack Mode."

A tiny spark of fire danced on the lazy man's hand, and he blew on it, settling it on the field. The fire rose, and from it came a little girl in rust-red clothing. She had pointy ears, wore a floppy hat, and carried a torch in one hand. (100/200)

"That must be one of the cards he took from Ulysses…" Chad said.

"How can you tell?" Laura asked him.

"Because he's looked for that card for ages, but could never find it in Maine. Not sure why."

After a moment, Gerald nodded. "Raging Flame Sprite, attack directly with Fire Kiss."

The little spirit of fire inhaled, and then spat a tiny fireball at Jacob. It hit him in the chest and vanished. The dark servant barely flinched as his Life Points went to 7,900.

"Hmmm…" Gerald thought aloud. "That didn't do much, did it? Good for me, then, that my Raging Flame Sprite gains 1,000 Attack Points for every successful direct attack…"

As he said it, the torch in the sprite's hand burned brighter, and she began to sweat a little. (100/200 – 1,100/200)

"I set one card facedown," Gerald concluded, "play a Dian Keto the Cure Master, and that will end my turn." His Life Points rose to 9,000 as the aura of light surrounded his feet.

Jacob drew, declaring, "Chosen, if that's an anti-monster trap, you've wasted a Magic and Trap Zone. My deck doesn't attack. In fact, I thank you for playing that Level Limit card…" He turned around one card in his hand, revealing it was Level Limit – Area B. "You save me the trouble of doing it myself."

All three onlookers stared with widened eyes.

"Now," Jacob said, "I'll set a card facedown and summon Aqua Madoor in Attack Mode… or Defense Mode, as the case will soon be."

A mage in cerulean robes, with spiky blue hair and a face hidden behind a mask, floated onto Jacob's field, next to his facedown monster. The Level Limit area struck him with an electric shock, and the mage knelt, arms crossed over his chest. (1,200/2,000)

"That will be my turn, Chosen of the Light," Jacob concluded.

Sighing, Gerald said, "Please call me by name. It's disturbing to constantly be called by a title I didn't ask for…" He drew his next card, and then said, "I'll summon the Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode."

The white rabbit and its teleporter came into being, prepared to strike. (700/500)

Jacob waved his hand towards his facedown card, which revealed itself. "That won't work, Gerald. I activate Horn of Heaven – yes, I know the irony of me playing anything with 'Heaven' in the name…"

The winged horn descended, aimed directly at the rabbit, which began to shiver.

"Whichever monster blows this horn will die from sympathetic vibration," Jacob explained. "But the resulting blast will rewrite history, preventing your monster from ever having come into play and sending it to the grave. Aqua Madoor, I command you to play the Horn of Heaven and undo the Inaba White Rabbit's existence."

Stepping up to the horn, the spellcaster cleared his throat. He then took a deep breath and – without even shifting his mask – blew the Horn of Heaven. Its reverberating tone forced Chad and Laura to cover their ears, although Gerald didn't seem to be affected by it. His Inaba White Rabbit, however, quivered in pain, and then expanded slightly before vanishing in a burst of light.

After blowing the horn, however, the Aqua Madoor stumbled back, clapping both hands over where his ears would be if they were visible. His body quaked, and finally he exploded into a hundred pieces. His mask bounced twice before shattering.

Jacob sighed. "Couldn't be helped," he said.

The line made Gerald raise an eyebrow, but then he shrugged. "Raging Flame Sprite, attack him directly," he ordered.

This time, the little fire spirit inhaled for a few seconds longer than before. She held the breath a moment, and then spat a long bolt of fire at Jacob. It struck the dark servant in his chest, leaving a scorch mark… but he simply dusted it off as his Life Points moved to 6,800.

"Is he made of iron?" Laura wondered.

With a sigh, Gerald said, "That will end my turn, then." While he said it, the Raging Flame Sprite began to pant, sweating profusely, and her torch grew even brighter. (1,100/200 – 2,100/200)

Nodding in response, Jacob drew. "I set a card facedown, and then I'll sacrifice my facedown Prevent Rat for Labyrinth Wall in Attack Mode… shifted to Defense by your Level Limit – Area B."

The ground around the duelists rumbled, causing Chad and Laura to take several steps backwards. Jacob's coat fluttered as dust rose from the street beneath him; the pavement at his feet cracked. A gigantic stone maze came into being underneath him, rising up and becoming larger and larger with each passing minute. Finally, it was there before them, with no obvious signs as to what mode it was in. Jacob's facedown card was visible within the Labyrinth's entrance. (0/3,000)

"Now, Chosen, it is your move," Jacob concluded.

"The name is Gerald. Gerald Laxina. Stop calling me 'Chosen'." Gerald drew his next card, thinking, _If I summon something, odds are good he'll just lay it to waste._ "Raging Flame Sprite," he commanded, "attack him once again with Fire Kiss."

After taking a massive breath, the Raging Flame Sprite prepared to unleash a massive blast of fire at Jacob…

"Activate Staunch Defender," Jacob declared, gesturing to his facedown card as he sat atop the Labyrinth Wall. "Now you must attack a face-up monster I choose, and I choose my Labyrinth Wall. Pity, isn't it?" And he slid off the wall into the labyrinth's core.

The Raging Flame Sprite exhaled, shooting a gigantic stream of fire at the Labyrinth Wall. The fire burned its way into the labyrinth, apparently chasing after Jacob. Several minutes passed, during which nothing seemed to happen. Gerald looked to his friends…

…and then a subdued wave of fire came out of the Labyrinth Wall and washed over Gerald, causing him to cry out in shock as his Life Points hit 8,100.

Once the attack was done, Jacob pulled himself back onto the Labyrinth Wall, standing straight and looking to Gerald. "My apologies if that hurt, Chosen of the Light… but it was supposed to."

Not even bothering to comment, Gerald exhaled with a hiss, and then put a hand to his cheek… his eyes widening as he felt a burn there. "What on Earth…?"

"A little bit of dark power, properly applied. I'd be careful what you let hit you, Chosen…" Jacob narrowed his eyes. "Some things are more painful than others in this game."

_This must really be a Dark Duel, _Gerald thought. _How else could I get burned like that?_ "In that case, I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," he concluded.

Laura whispered to Chad, "Wonder why he set that, given that Jacob said he won't be attacking…"

"Jacob could be lying," Chad pointed out, "and either way he can sacrifice it for Heaven's Sphere when he gets it in hand."

His eyes closed, Jacob drew, and then set his card on his Duel Disk. "Graceful Charity should make this duel even harder for you," he said, drawing his three cards and discarding two (Level Limit – Area B among them). He then held up one card. "With this Equip Magic card, Chosen, your deck will be left utterly helpless."

Gerald thought for a moment, and then whispered, "Oh, no."

"I play Ring of Magnetism on the Labyrinth Wall," Jacob continued.

The entrance to the Labyrinth Wall pulled itself open wider, and a green metal ring burned itself into being, shining slightly. The structure under Jacob's feet weakened slightly, bits of stone rolling off and falling away. (0/3,000 – 0/2,500)

"With this card in play," Jacob said, "although my Labyrinth Wall loses 500 Defense Points, it becomes the only target – player _or_ monster – you can attack… which means you simply cannot attack, as none of your monsters are strong enough to destroy it. Unless you have an Amazoness Swordswoman or Chthonian Soldier, you can't _touch_ me."

Laura winced. "I saw this last month. Someone used it to shut down a Toon deck with the help of Horn of Light and Chorus of Sanctuary."

"This does not look good," Chad said, stating the obvious – which was the entirety of what could be said at the moment. "But it just hit me – this is Jacob's fourth turn and he hasn't moved for any offense yet. Do you think it's a stall deck?"

"I set a card facedown," Jacob went on, "and call that the end of my turn." _Chosen, you have only **begun** to suffer._

Gerald drew, muttering, "What am I going to do now?" He glanced to his draw and added, "That's a start…" Audibly, he declared, "I'll set a card facedown and end my turn."

_Not like he could do much else,_ Laura thought.

Jacob drew, gave his card a look, and then held it up. "Pot of Greed." He drew twice, and then said, "Chosen, I'm fairly sure you've run into Cards of Night before…"

"Oh, damn it all!" Chad exclaimed. Laura kept silent, but she shared the feeling.

"I take it you're about to play one," Gerald said, keeping his worry masked fairly well.

Jacob nodded, calmly playing the card as he said, "I call upon the Card of Night known as Pandora's Black Wisdom."

In front of the Labyrinth Wall, a small gold chest appeared. The lid shook slightly, a dark smoke beginning to leak out.

"We all know the story of Pandora's Box," Jacob explained. "When the box was opened, all the evils of the world were unleashed on mankind, causing us no end of grief. All that remained in the box was hope… but what nobody knew was that the box also contained a glorious, terrible wisdom, visible only as the evils fled from it." He jumped off the Labyrinth Wall, landing fairly well, and said, "Let's see what it's got tucked into those depths…"

With a good push, Jacob took the lid off of the box and looked down into it. There was a moment's pause, and then a massive burst of utter evil rose from within the container, screaming and gibbering as it flew past Jacob's head. The dark servant didn't seem to notice… or care. He just stared into the box as every foul creature imaginable disappeared into the sky overhead.

After the evils disappeared, Jacob looked up, vaguely disappointed. He picked up the lid and set it back onto the box, watching it vanish.

"Well?" Gerald finally asked.

"Nothing I didn't already know," Jacob replied. "But still, any insight is good insight. This card lets me search my deck for any three cards I wish and add them to my hand." He took his deck, drew out three cards, and slid them neatly into his hand. "The price for such knowledge is high, though – I now remove the top three cards of my deck from the game." The top three cards of his deck simply vanished, one after the other.

There was a moment's silence, and then Chad asked, "And the _other_ price?"

"Ah, yes, the price Darkness requires I pay." Jacob chuckled. "Rather a hefty one, I say; if I lose this duel, all five of my senses cease to function. Sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell – if I lose, all sensory input will be lost for the rest of my days."

Gerald blinked. "As much as I'm not the friend of the Darkness, I have to say that's a bit steep."

The dark servant shrugged. "It's forbidden knowledge, Chosen of the Light, so the cost is not quite equal to the value. But I digress…" He took two cards from his hand and slid them into his Magic and Trap spaces. "I set these two cards facedown and end my turn."

Gerald set his fingers on his deck…

"Activate Ojama Trio," Jacob declared, now standing in front of the Labyrinth Wall – apparently, he couldn't scale it from outside. "This creates three Ojama tokens on your field, filling your Monster zones and denying you a chance to summon."

Three hideously ugly creatures popped into view on Gerald's field, mugging as they came into being. "Hey! It's a new boss!" one of them, a disturbing thing with yellow skin, bulbous head, and stalk eyes shouted. (0/1,000)

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," said a squat black-skinned humanoid. (0/1,000)

"Meh, I dunno," said the third of the group, a one-eyed green-skinned creature with a frighteningly-long tongue. "The old boss had more energy. This slouch just ain't got it." (0/1,000)

"Shut up, all three of you, or I will drop-kick you into the next county," Gerald warned them. The Ojamas fell silent.

"Now that you have five monsters in play," Jacob continued, "I activate my other trap, Just Desserts, dealing you 500 points of damage for each one – that's 2,500 points in all."

At first, nothing happened. Gerald turned to his friends and shrugged… whereupon five gigantic barbecue forks shot up from the ground and impaled him under his ribs.

"Gerald!" Chad called out… before remembering they were just holograms and sheepishly going silent. _At least, I **hope** they're just holograms._

Laura grimaced. _I'll never be cruel to a side of beef again._

"Boss!" the Ojamas yelled. "Hang in there!" A stern look from the impaled young man shut them up again.

The forks disappeared after a second, and Gerald fell to the ground, breathing heavily as he landed. His Life Points dropped to 5,600.

As Gerald got back to his feet, Chad asked, "Are you okay?"

"I think drinking anything would be a bad idea for a while…" he said. He then set his fingers to where the forks had struck and turned pale – he was oozing blood from the points of impact. "What the…"

"Don't worry too much, Chosen," Jacob said. "You will not bleed to death as long as you retain Life Points, nor did those forks hit anything vital. However… once you are _out_ of Life Points…"

Shaking it off, Gerald hit a button on his Duel Disk. "Since my Life Points were damaged, I'll counter with Attack and Receive, which hits you for 700 Life Points."

The armored soldier sprang out and slashed through the leather straps under Jacob's vest, sending them flying… but not even budging him. His Life Points sank to 6,100.

"Won't _anything_ budge him – gweh…" Chad began, only to be cut off as what was under the straps came into view.

Underneath the leather straps, there were endless, interlocked tattoos and ritual scars, arranged in a seemingly meaningless – but clearly symbolic – way. From time to time, they glowed faintly, making their true meanings clear to a degree – a vague, frightening degree.

One of Jacob's hands passed before the markings on his torso, and he grinned. "Signs of loyalty to all my old masters – all thirty-one of them; they left me with a large number of gifts. Granted, I damned my soul thirty-one times over, but that never mattered to me. Finish your move, Chosen of the Light."

"Fine…" Gerald took a deep breath, wincing as it aggravated the puncture wounds, and said, "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master, restoring 1,000 of my Life Points."

The aura of light surrounded him, and he exhaled in relief as his Life Points rose to 6,600; the puncture wounds closed up, leaving only a circle of holes in his shirt, and the burn on his face disappeared.

"That's all I can do," he concluded.

As he drew, Jacob smiled again, a cold, hateful smile. "Chosen… you're about to die. Normally, Ojama tokens cannot be sacrificed for a summoning – but for a _Special_ Summon, they're perfectly usable."

Laura whispered, "Oh, don't tell he's going to…"

"Oh, he _is,_" Chad replied.

Gerald took a step back, only to shudder as his back struck the Dark Duel's border.

"I tribute two of your Ojama tokens – which will cost you 600 Life Points – and summon the magnificent Lava Golem to your field," Jacob confirmed.

The green and black Ojamas cried out, "Boss, help us!" before they turned a bright red and melted into the ground. It tugged at Gerald's heartstrings, even as he went down to 6,000 Life Points.

What was left of the two monsters pooled together, and the pool spread, gathering around Gerald. It turned to metal, and the street beneath him fell away, revealing a massive iron grate. The remnants of the Ojamas shot up, creating a steel cage – he was trapped.

The ground in front of Gerald shattered, and magma flowed up from it. It rose over his head, forming a gigantic creature made of lava. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, and he could feel the heat even from within the cage. The creature took a few steps back, hovering over the cage; bits of molten rock fell around him, and he swallowed hard. (3,000/2,500) The forgotten Level Limit – Area B kicked in, shocking the creature and forcing it to its "knees".

"Just so you don't get any bright ideas about attacking me with it," Jacob continued, "I'll stop it in its tracks with this Magic Card, Mask of the Accursed."

A hideous mask rose from the crack in the earth that had spawned the Lava Golem and sealed to its face, driving two massive metal needles into place to hold it on. The fiend roared in pain, but could not pry the mask off, try as it might.

"Oh, I know how that one works," Gerald grumbled. "So I'll take 1,000 points of damage from this golem on my turns and 500 points from the Mask on yours… anything else?"

"Bad idea to ask that," Jacob replied. "Because there _is_. I activate my facedown card, Mask of Restrict, which makes any form of tribute impossible – including from your Amazon Archer. I know about your Heaven's Sphere, and I want no part of it…"

The facedown card lifted, revealing the strange two-part mask, and a purple energy field surrounded the area.

"He's completely pinned," Laura whispered. "I don't know how he'll break out…"

"Assuming he can," Chad replied.

_Thanks for the vote of confidence, you two,_ Gerald thought. _But the worst part is they're right – what am I going to do about this one?_

"I'll set these two cards facedown," Jacob said as the holograms appeared before him, "and end my turn with that."

Gerald drew, and then heard a strange breaking noise. Seconds later, a small amount of lava from the Lava Golem's chest landed on his back, burning through his shirt and causing him to scream before it flowed off. His Life Points lowered to 5,000.

"Just to add to the pain," Jacob added, "I'll activate Des Counterblow. You know what that does, I take it."

Gerald's heart sank. "All too well." He looked at his hand and thought, _This should at least get me out of the gutter._ "I play the Continuous Magic Card known as Spell Sanctuary. Now we both search our decks for any one Magic Card and add them to our hands; in addition, all Magic Cards may be played as Quick-Play Magic Cards."

The shining sanctuary appeared between them, and both men took a card from their decks. Gerald swiftly played his. "Now I'll clear out our fields with the power of Giant Trunade…"

"No." Jacob revealed his last face-down card. "I will seal it away with Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell – at the cost of Fissure from my hand, your Giant Trunade is negated and may never be played again in this duel…"

The seal appeared on the field, and the image of Giant Trunade appeared in it briefly before shattering to a hundred pieces. Gerald's jaw dropped, and he barely managed to put his thoughts in order, uttering, "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

"I draw," Jacob began.

As he said and did so, two bolts of energy flew down from the spikes in the Mask of the Accursed, causing Gerald to quiver in pain and dropping his Life Points to 4,500.

With a laugh, Jacob held up his latest draw – which was black-bordered.

"_Another_ Card of Night?" Laura said as her eyes went wide. "There's no way that's even legal!"

"Cards of Night _aren't_ legal cards – that's the point," Jacob answered. "But yes, this makes two. And this one is of my own possession – I did not obtain it from Degas and Alexander. I call it Hell Meteor."

Chad and Laura both backed up as far as they could. Gerald looked like he wanted to, but he was trapped in the iron cage.

"This card's functioning is simple," Jacob went on. "I take 2,000 Life Points of damage, which is a required sacrifice, and in exchange… I deal Gerald 4,000 points of damage."

_It's like Tremendous Fire on steroids!_ Chad thought.

A burst of fire emerged around Jacob's shoulders, sending his Life Points to 4,100, and he cupped his palms, letting the fire pool into a spark between them. "_Nvj rkqquzhk xsmgtnk jst vmw wvhpmkgg kmdtqu jst!" _he chanted, the spark growing ever-larger in his palms. Soon it was the size of a bowling ball, and then it was the size of a man and never ceased to grow. Finally, he held it over his head, and it was easily the size of a two-story house.

Gerald knelt, covering his head. "May the Light save me," he whispered.

Jacob threw the Hell Meteor as though it was a feather, and the massive ball of fire slammed into Gerald, knocking him prone and briefly concealing him from view amid the blaze.

Both Chad and Laura held their breath…

The fire dissipated, and Gerald stood up, staggering and leaning on the wall of the cage. His friends gasped – the fire had wreaked havoc on him. His hair was burned black, what was left of it; his eyebrows and eyelashes were gone. His jacket had vanished, reduced to smoke, and his shirt was missing the entire left side, as well as the right sleeve. The right leg of his pants was gone from hip to knee, and the left leg from knee to ankle was burned away. His shoes were oddly unaffected, and the fire had done nothing to his deck or Duel Disk. The worst parts, however, were the third-degree burns covering his exposed skin, which was burned almost to the bone over large patches.

"You really are the Chosen of the Light," Jacob said, chuckling grimly. "The last person I struck with a Hell Meteor was obliterated – there wasn't even a hair left. Your asymmetrical burns are practically a fleabite compared to that. But look at your Life Points…"

It took Gerald a moment to pull together enough of his mental faculties to look at his Duel Disk. When he did, his brain dimly registered that he only had 500 Life Points left. He could barely remember why that was a bad thing.

"Once you draw a card, the Lava Golem's effect will burn you down to the bones, and then this duel will be over and you will be dead." Jacob sighed. "I'll give you a chance to surrender, whereupon I will simply break your neck."

Gerald couldn't even speak at that point. He glanced to his field, managing to recall what his cards were, and then shook his head.

"Fair enough…" Jacob said, sighing again. "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Before Gerald drew, Chad interrupted, "Hold on a second. Cards of Night always have drawbacks _other_ than game effects. Why didn't Hell Meteor do anything to you?"

"But it did," the dark servant explained. "Normally, Hell Meteor would cover me in third-degree burns, similar to what happened to the Chosen. But when two or more Cards of Night are played in one duel, the rules change. Now, if I lose this duel… I will die. Swiftly and painfully."

There was nothing Chad could say to that.

Jacob merely smiled. "Not that it matters, as once the Chosen of the Light draws, I will be victorious."

Even as he said it, Gerald drew, and the magma began to fall…

"Gerald!" Chad and Laura yelled together.

"Boss!" the Ojama token cried out as they did.

The lava never touched him, however, as the burnt and battered young man slammed his fingers into two of his facedown cards. "Activate… Dian Keto… and chain Emergency Provisions. I send… Level Limit… facedown card… Spell Sanctuary… and Dian Keto to my Graveyard… gain 5,000 Life Points… because Dian Keto still works…" And then he fell to the ground, exhausted.

Everyone went utterly silent… and then they heard the snores. Soft, regular snoring came from Gerald's prone form, as his nature had finally caught up with him.

Chad and Laura couldn't help laughing at that point, curled over in relief. Jacob, meanwhile, gritted his teeth, clenching a fist.

As he slept, his Dian Keto the Cure Master appeared on the field, and then the wicked mouth of the Emergency Provisions appeared. It shattered the Level Limit field and devoured it, ate his facedown card, smashed its way through Spell Sanctuary, and then turned and bit through Dian Keto. When it was over, a massive aura of light surrounded him, his Life Points rising from 500 to 5,500 in one fell swoop. The lava hit the ground next to him, sending his Life Points back to 4,500, but he didn't even flinch.

It was a moment before Gerald awoke, and he pulled himself back to his feet, dusting off. To the astonishment of the onlookers, the light had restored all of his wounds – it had even regrown his hair. Although his clothes were still burned and wrecked, the rest of his features were just as they were before the Hell Meteor struck. He stretched and smiled a little, his mind back in working order. "Sorry about that; I never did manage to shake the habit."

"Make… your… move…" Jacob growled.

Yawning, Gerald looked to his hand. "One card facedown and I'll have to end my turn on that," he replied.

Jacob drew, and as he did so, the Mask of the Accursed fired its energy bolts into Gerald, causing him to twitch as they shot through his body and lowered his Life Points to 4,000.

"That will be enough of that," the lazy young man said once the shock was done with. "I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device, sending the Lava Golem back to your hand and disposing of the Mask with it."

A cannon-like device slid into place under the unobservant Lava Golem. Its body being liquid, it had no way to avoid flowing down into it. There was a moment's pause, and then the device fired, sending it back through the air to land in Jacob's hand. The Mask of the Accursed fell out of the sky and shattered as it hit the ground, and the cage surrounding Gerald fell apart.

"And due to his Mask of Restrict," Laura noted, "he can't summon it again."

Jacob took one deep breath, and then another, and then another. Once he was under control, he said, "I will set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

Gerald drew, and then declared, "I'll set one card facedown, and my turn will end with that."

But almost as soon as Jacob finished drawing, Gerald interrupted, "I activate Karma Cut. By discarding Servant of Catabolism…" Gerald stopped and checked on the one he was discarding. It wasn't the one he felt in tune with, and so he put it into his Graveyard. "…I'll remove your Labyrinth Wall from the game."

A ripple in space came into being underneath the Labyrinth Wall. With only the slightest noise, the massive stone maze fell into it, vanishing from this plane of existence and taking the Ring of Magnetism with it. All that remained was a single brick.

Once again, the servant of darkness had to take several deep breaths. Once he was back under control, he glared at Gerald and said, "I didn't want to have to do this, but you give me no choice. This isn't a Card of Night, but I still hesitate to play it in a Dark Duel, especially one like this."

"What is it?" Gerald asked.

Jacob played the card, which had a picture of multiple meteors coming down on it. "It's called Deepest Impact."

The sky turned black…

**0000000**

Simultaneously, Degas and Alexander yelled, "You _fool!_"

**0000000**

The first sign anything was about to go wrong was a small piece of rock, which flew from the sky and bounced off the step next to Laura. The second was a red glow in the air overhead.

And then the meteors began to fall. The first one slammed through a nearby building, breaking it in half and sending debris raining through the city. Part of it shattered in midair above Gerald and Jacob, pelting them both with fragments.

More came after the first, laying waste to the surrounding stretch of downtown Minneapolis. One flew over Chad and Laura's head to take off the top twenty floors of the Well Fargo Center, forcing them to scramble for cover as pieces of it fell. 225 South Sixth was razed as three meteors tore it into three separate chunks, leaving only a stump in its wake. They fell without mercy, tearing the city apart.

The Ojama token on Gerald's field was running around madly, yelling, "Boss, _get me outta here!_"

"Is there a game effect to this chaos?" Gerald said while he gaped at the destruction..

Jacob nodded, saying, "Deepest Impact destroys all monsters in play and sweeps half of our Life Points from us. It is a devastating card, especially in a Dark Duel like this one, so I don't use it very often…"

As he said it, three meteors struck Gerald's monsters, crushing them out of existence and sending up a massive shockwave. This one also knocked down Jacob, the first sign of a reaction any move had caused him to show. Jacob's Life Points plunged to 3,050, while Gerald's hit 2,000; Gerald's Life Points then sank to 1,700, as an Ojama token was among the dead.

Once the effect resolved, the skies began to clear. Before they did, however, one final meteor roared down from space, striking the IDS Center on its very top and crushing through it like a god's fist. Pieces of the once-proud building flew everywhere, one passing directly between the duelists, before the demolition was complete.

**0000000**

Storming down the city streets, Lucifer Allumette had to stop.

He had no choice – a rain of burning stones was stopping him, and although heat meant little to him, the impact damage would have left him helpless. All he could do was look up and gasp as the city was torn asunder.

"What in ze name of ze Dreaming is ze Darkness _zinking_?" he said to himself. "What use could reckless destruction have for zem?"

Part of what used to be the Foshay Tower began to fall on him at that point. With a cry of "_Bouclier du feu!"_ Lucifer thrust his arms across his chest, surrounding himself with an orb of flames; any debris that came close to him melted harmlessly away.

The flames died down, leaving Lucifer untouched. He looked into the sky and said, "Ze Divine help us…"

**0000000**

The rain of meteors could be seen from St. Paul, and so Father Young and his latest group of listeners watched as the effect of Deepest Impact tore into Minneapolis.

To the preacher's shock, all he could think was of how he could tie this into his current sermon. He took off his glasses, shutting his eyes, and thought, _Lord help me, this gets easier every day…_

Crossing himself, he turned back to his audience and cleared his throat.

**0000000**

Finally, the skies were clear again. Gerald looked around himself, shivering. There were no traces of what had caused all this…

…but a large chunk of downtown Minneapolis was gone. Only burned-out, blackened carcasses of buildings remained after Deepest Impact had its way. A cold wind blew across the ruins, which stretched several miles around them.

And then Chad said something that turned Gerald's opinion of Jacob from fright to bitter anger: "Gerald, there were people in those buildings!"

After a moment, the dark servant shrugged. "When St. Paul was struck by the Darkness Infection, Minneapolis was there to clear out the infected. Who was there to clear out Minneapolis? So there were people in the buildings, but you have to expect collateral damage in a situation like this…"

"In other words," Gerald replied, his voice far colder than Chad or Laura had ever heard it, "in order to kill me, you were quite willing to lay waste to half a city and kill hundreds of people who had nothing to do with us. All this… just to do away with one man." Gerald shut his eyes. "I've felt anger before. I've felt pain before. But this is new…" He opened them again. "Jacob, _you sicken me._"

"So be it. You won't be around to feel that much longer." Jacob played one more card from his hand. "I'll play Wave-Motion Cannon."

A mysterious, bulbous cannon rose into view, a glass-ended tube at its heart beginning to spin.

"This Continuous Magic Card charges up by 1,000 points each turn," Jacob explained. "When I destroy it, it will deal damage to your Life Points equal to its charged energy. So in two turns, I'll be able to finish you off. That will end my turn."

Laura and Chad had moved to stand by the Corolla, and both looked to each other in fright. "That means he has to win in two turns or get his Life Points up, and he's used up Dian Keto," Chad muttered.

"And he couldn't play Heaven's Sphere if he wanted to," Laura muttered.

Gerald played them no attention. He just drew his next card, whispering, "Light, I may not truly believe yet, but let me do away with this devil in human skin…" Without even looking, he set the card on his Duel Disk…

The Pot of Greed emerged, chuckling as it was wont to do. Gerald drew twice.

"While I was burned and shell-shocked, I heard you explain that if you lost this duel, you would die," Gerald said. "As much as I don't like the idea of killing someone, I can justify it in your case. This turn, you _will_ die."

Jacob stretched out his arms. "Kill me, then."

"I start by summoning a card I received from another Chosen of the Light – Cyber Tutu, in Attack Mode," Gerald began.

The air around both duelists turned pink, and in a wave of hearts, a pink-haired little girl in a red and white ballet outfit pirouetted onto Gerald's field, wearing a clear plastic eye shield. She stopped in front of him and shyly waved. (1,000/600)

"Awwww!" Chad said, causing Laura to stare at him.

Lifting an eyebrow, Gerald continued, "Next, I'll use Premature Burial to bring back my Amazon Archer, also in Attack Mode."

Blood dripped onto the field as Gerald's Life Points fell to 1,200, and then the bow-wielding girl came into view, training her arrow on Jacob. (1,400/1,000)

"Finally," Gerald declared, "I play Monster Reborn, bringing back my Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode as well."

The confused snail/squid creature rose into view. (700/500)

"Attack me if you dare," Jacob said. "Des Counterblow will destroy everything you throw at me."

"And normally, that would stop me," Gerald replied. "But Des Counterblow won't stop the attacks. I hate sending three monsters to their deaths, but…" He sighed. "Expediency is a harsh god. Cyber Tutu, you start the charge with Fouette Strike."

The ballerina bowed, and then slid forward in a perfect chasse before leaping and kicking Jacob across the face, cracking his head around. His Life Points lowered to 2,050… and then a beam of light snaked out from Des Counterblow and vaporized Cyber Tutu.

Sighing, Gerald waved to Amazon Archer. "Amazon Archer, attack him directly with Savage Arrow."

Pulling back on the bowstring, the archer fired off an arrow and struck Jacob in the stomach. He let out a grunt, tugging the arrow from his stomach as his Life Points hit 650. The Des Counterblow stretched out a beam of light and reduced the Amazon Archer to atoms.

Before he said anything more, Gerald turned his back on his opponent, shutting his eyes. He didn't want to see it. "Servant of Catabolism…"

Chad and Laura turned away as well.

"…exterminate."

The Servant of Catabolism sprang across the field, dug its tendrils into Jacob's flesh, and let out a burst of electricity that caused him to cry out. His Life Points reached zero, even as the Des Counterblow vainly destroyed the Servant of Catabolism.

There was silence for a moment, as Jacob stared blankly into the early-evening sky. He then clutched his chest, took a deep breath, and gushed blood from his mouth. It dripped from his mouth for a moment, and then he took another breath. He collapsed before he could even exhale.

After a minute passed, Gerald turned around, walked up to the prone Jacob, and knelt to check his pulse. There was none. The last attack was fatal.

"Your death can't raise the dead," Gerald whispered, "but at this point, I don't care. Rot, Jacob."

Under his fingers, the body of Jacob Waterknot turned a deep gray, and then exploded into dust, swirling around him. None of the three were particularly surprised.

**0000000**

"Rot in thirty-one separate Hells, Jacob," Degas hissed, sipping from a glass of champagne.

Alexander hissed as well, downing his champagne with one gulp. "We need all the Darkness we can get… and he goes and kills hundreds of Darkness Infected. Frankly, I'm glad he's dead."

"Especially since he actually succeeded in his purpose," Degas noted.

"Indeed," Alexander replied. "Gerald may still be alive, but he is in no condition to duel Menardi. He's the strongest of the three – the other two won't stand a chance against her, especially since neither of them have Heaven's Sphere on their side."

The man in black smiled. "And I doubt the Light will spare a Heaven's Gift for them, either."

"Which means our Pillar should have nothing to fear," the man in green finished.

**0000000**

The group consensus was that a vision would strike Gerald at any time, and so the group waited, Gerald sitting on the Corolla's hood. Aside from his ruined outfit, he bore no signs of the Dark Duel he'd just waged.

Laura sat on the hood next to him, looking over him to see if they'd missed any wounds. The left side of his torso was bare, and he had a surprisingly decent build for a lazy young man. She admired it for a moment, and then turned away with a blush.

Someone appeared in the distance, and everyone tensed (other than Gerald, who was beyond caring). As he came closer, however, the rings on his right fingers reflected the sunlight, and Chad relaxed. "We know this one, Laura, you can calm down," he told her.

As he'd suspected, it was Lucifer Allumette, still as impeccably dressed as ever. Not a hair was out of place. He bowed to the three, saying, "I do apologize for not having talked to you in a while…" He then looked around. "Where is zat bastard Jacob Waterknot?"

"If there's justice in this world, he's rotting in Hell," Gerald replied without looking up.

"So he is dead… I expected as such."

"Who is this guy?" Laura asked.

Lucifer smirked. "Ah, zere is another to your little cavalcade… Allow me to introduce myself." He bowed to her. "I am Lucifer Allumette, ze Beloved of Fire, a servant of Dreams and a friend to Chad and Gerald. So… which of you dealt with Jacob?"

"That would be my sin," Gerald replied.

"My goodness…" Lucifer bowed his head. "Monsieur Laxina, you are far more powerful zan ever I suspected. Jacob Waterknot, ze dark servant, was a master of dark energy… and yet you defeated him. You truly are ze Light's Chosen."

"If I had the strength, I'd punch you for calling me that," Gerald said, with a sudden spike of anger in his words.

There was a pause, and then Lucifer stepped back. "Ah, zat's all he called you, was it not? I apologize again…"

"We haven't seen you since after the duel with Jean-Vic – where on Earth did you go?" Chad asked.

The Beloved of Fire rubbed the back of his head. "I sensed something… important. Something zat I couldn't let ze Darkness get a hold of. Zat was why I was so rude before I left… I can't tell you what, but it was very important zat I find it. I'm still looking…"

The awkward moment broke as Gerald winced, grabbing hold of his head. "Vision's coming…" He then pitched forward, Laura grabbing him at the last second to keep him from falling off the car.

This vision was remarkably straightforward, and all he could say as it hit was, "The Guthrie Theater… I can see it… She's in the Guthrie. Menardi's in the…"

Blood trickled from Gerald's nose, and he passed out in Laura's grasp, collapsing onto the car's hood.

Chad tilted his head. "Aren't most of his visions really cryptic?"

"Remember ze Reciprocal? He just destroyed a major player in ze Darkness – in return, ze Light could afford a straightforward vision." Lucifer then grimaced. "Unfortunately, being straightforward is also very, very painful."

The group looked to each other, and then nodded as one. "Get him in the car – we'll stop at the hotel, and then head on to the Guthrie," Chad said.

"Why the hotel?" Laura asked.

Chad gestured to Gerald's ruined clothes. "He'd want a change, wouldn't you think?"

**0000000**

Menardi smiled behind her hand, turning off the mirror. She stood up, ran her fingers through both sides of her hair, and whispered, "Almost show time…"

She then turned and looked through the curtain. "Can't disappoint my fans, now, can I?"

**PANDORA'S BLACK WISDOM**

Type:Normal Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A young woman, covering her face with one arm and screaming, is standing behind a small golden chest. The lid of the chest is missing, and a massive number of hideous creatures are pouring out of it.

Effect: Search your deck for any three cards, add them to your hand, and shuffle your deck. Remove the top three cards of your deck from the current Duel. If you lose the duel after this card resolves, all of your senses will forever cease to function.

**HELL METEOR**

Type:Normal Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A single, massive ball of fire plummeting down from the sky.

Effect: Inflict 4000 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points and 2000 points of damage to your Life Points. You will be severely burned when this card is activated.

_Note: This card first appeared, with significantly different rules, in "Demon Duelist Legacy Shadow Tournament Arc" by Wolf General. Original creative credit goes to him. Used with permission._

**DEEPEST IMPACT**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A swarm of meteors plunging from the sky.

Effect: Destroy all monsters in play and reduce the Life Points of both players by half.

_Note: This card was first used by Noah in the original series episode "Brothers in Arms, Part 2". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

_Coming next chapter: Menardi finally steps out and fights her own battle – and the Pillar is not about to fall easily. With Gerald out of commission, Laura steps forward to face off against Menardi, but how will her warriors handle this battle, especially when they end up technologically outmatched? Find out in Chapter Fifteen, "System Interrupted"!_


	16. System Interrupted

**_So this is a Pillar of Darkness...I guess the Darkness are equal-opportunity employers._**

**_I don't scare easily, even if you call yourself "the Pillar of Terror" and look like you walked out of a bad sci-fi film. Enough has happened to me that I don't bother getting scared anymore. This is a duel - all cards and holograms; nothing to compare with getting a gun the size of a compact car shoved in your face._**

**_Or at least that's what I keep telling myself. But this woman knows what she's doing. I can feel it in the back of my mind, like a constant little itch at my subconscious. She's geting to me... scaring me._**

**_She's going to pay. Nobody scares me and gets away with it!_**

**Chapter Fifteen: System Interrupted**

The security guard at the Minneapolis Hilton had counted himself lucky – he had avoided St. Paul on the day the Darkness Infection swept it, and somehow he had dodged the disease again when it struck in Minneapolis. He was still on the job even though only one of the rooms was currently occupied.

That afternoon, the door opened, and he looked up from a newspaper he was perusing. Four people walked in, three of whom he recognized on sight and the fourth of whom didn't seem a threat.

The strange thing was that one of the four, the brown-haired guy who was the group's apparent leader, was currently leaning on the redheaded girl who'd shown up the day before. His clothes were an absolute wreck – the shirt was half-incinerated, one and a half of his pants legs were gone, and he didn't seem to have socks. In addition, there were several healing puncture wounds on his waist.

The guy looked at the guard, and the guard looked back. The group then moved on, stepping into an elevator.

"I'm not paid enough to ask questions," the guard muttered to himself, returning to his newspaper.

**0000000**

Half an hour later, Gerald had changed out of the wrecked clothing he'd worn after the duel with Jacob, and was in what was, for all intents and purposes, an exact copy of the same outfit he'd had before.

He sighed. "One of my shirts has a burn hole through the front thanks to Jean-Vic Viper; my second shirt is half-gone… I'm running out of my gray outfits."

"There are other colors in the spectrum, Gerald," Chad said, sitting on one of the beds and flipping through the TV. "Try some of those. I think you'd look decent in purple…"

"He's an autumn," Lucifer said from the couch. "Zere would be a terrible clash."

"What do you think, Laura?"

Laura, stretched out across the other bed, glared at Chad and asked, "Why do you think I would know? I'm less fashion-conscious than you are."

"And yet you dress better than we do," Gerald replied, lying on the foot of Laura's bed. "Although some of Chad's outfits can get fairly interesting."

"Hmmm?"

"You should have seen the week he was a Roaring Twenties criminal."

Lucifer sighed, adjusting the rings on his right hand, and said, "Zis is all very interesting, but we have more important business at hand. Where is ze Guthrie?"

"Downtown Minneapolis, not that far from where Jacob tore the city up," Chad answered. "I'm pretty sure it got through unscathed."

"Something tells me the Darkness would have made sure of that," Laura added. "After all, one of the Pillars is in it."

"So that's where Menardi is," Gerald said in summation. "We'll have to be ready for a Dark Duel…" He sighed. "But there's no way I can face her. The duel with Jacob took what energy I have out of me… I haven't felt this tired in my life."

Laura shrugged. "One of us will do it, then. We can't let you have all the fun."

"'Fun' in this situation is defined as risking your life. That's an odd definition."

Cutting into the discussion, Lucifer asked, "When shall we go?"

"You're coming with?" Chad asked.

The Beloved of Fire raised his hands in resignation. "I saw ze first Pillar duel; I don't feel like missing ze second one."

Gerald sighed. "You can't duel her yourself, but having you as moral support couldn't hurt."

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander sat at a table, a sheet of paper between them and the phone on the edge. Both of them reviewed it.

"It's time to call back the Darkness Infected," Degas said. "They're simply not capable of defeating Gerald or his allies. We can't hope to be victorious if we continue to rely on them."

"So it's time to call on our specialists," Alexander replied. "Amazing, isn't it, how the right motivation can get so many reasonable people working for the devil?"

Pushing his shades up, Degas frowned. "We aren't the devil, Alexander. But I do get the picture. You call Fuu; I'll take care of the others."

Alexander nodded and picked up the receiver. He hit the speed dial, waited, and then spoke in a vaguely sage-like voice. "Are you there, Fuu? Ah, good. The time has come. The great evil we discussed earlier has reared its head, and only you can stop it. Once I have located it, I will tell you where to strike. Be ready, my friend – this will not be an easy task." He hung up and couldn't resist a snicker. "I still can't believe she buys into that."

After laughing himself, Degas picked up the receiver and hit a different button. As the phone rang, he muttered, "I hate trying to have a phone call with a mute…" There was a click, and he said, "Sentinel? Are you there? Press one if you're there… Good. We need you to do a job for us. Press one if you're willing… Ah, very good. When the time comes, I'll tell you where to go. Be ready." He hung up.

A second later, Degas picked up the receiver again and hit the third button on the speed dial. He waited, and then said, "Mi'hen? Ah, glad I could catch you. Listen, the time's come for you to make good on our deal from before. The money will be transferred to your account the instant the duel is over, win or lose. What's that? Yes, the sum we discussed earlier. Thanks." He hung up once again.

Alexander twitched one of the muscles in his face and then asked, "Are we going to contact… him, as well?"

"Let's hold off on that," Degas replied. "Let the specialists have their turns, and if they're not enough, well…"

The Dark Conduit let out a sigh. "Thank everything for that. The longer before we have to call in that contract the better."

"Indeed. I know you still don't think it was a wise idea, but we both serve the Darkness. We needed the extra power."

"And damning ourselves is worth that?" Alexander replied.

Degas pushed his sunglasses up again, saying, "It's not damnation as such. I'll admit we're dancing on the borderline…"

Setting his head on the table, Alexander groaned, thinking, _Father Young would never stand for this._

**0000000**

The Corolla made its way through the deserted streets of Minneapolis, passing the shattered frames of many of the city's larger buildings. Jacob's Deepest Impact had reached farther than they'd thought.

"Zis… by ze Divine, I knew ze Dark Duel had torn zis city apart, but…" Lucifer collapsed back in his seat, holding his hand to his face – and then pulling it away with a sharp hiss as the Ring of Alarms singed him.

"Just more reasons to get to the men in charge before they can do even more damage," Laura said from the seat next to him, leaning back and taking in the early evening sky. Even destroyed, the skyline of Minneapolis was quite a sight.

Gerald slumped over in the passenger seat (Chad was driving, _again_), eyes half-shut and taking deep breaths. He could feel his pulse through his neck, and it was disturbingly high still – even though the battle with Jacob was long over.

The car soon stopped in front of the Guthrie, and instantly everyone could feel that unnatural sense of sheer wrongness that clung to the Pillars. Laura shrank back in her seat, which acted as a cue to Lucifer – he held up his ring hand and whispered, "Ring of Purity, guard us from zis dark and evil presence."

The pink bubble of the Ring of Purity surrounded the group, and they took a few breaths to recover. With that, all four moved out of the car, Gerald slower than usual.

Nothing stopped the group from entering the Guthrie, but once they were in, the world began to shift and melt around them. Gerald raised an eyebrow…

…and then they were in a dark room, the only lights a series of fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling. There was a glass box office in front of them, manned by a gray-skinned individual with a bleeding hole in his chest where a man's heart would sit. Behind that man sat two doors.

"Next…" the man said.

Moving ahead of the group, Gerald set his hand on the counter and said, "We're here to see Menardi."

The man looked Gerald in the eye and said, "There are no seats left… standing room only…"

"I'm not taking standing room. Menardi expects us to be here. Let us through."

"No seats… no exceptions…" The man stared straight ahead with blank eyes. "Only the opponent…"

"Enough of zis…" Lucifer stepped forward, placed his right hand on the glass, and said, "Ring of Clarity, pierce zis illusion and open the way to the dreamer."

The man and his box office vanished in a cloud of smoke, and they were in the Guthrie proper. The unusual arrangement of the seats was the same as ever, as was the odd design of the stage…

…but every seat was filled by a Darkness Infected. They were eagerly chatting among each other and apparently anxious for something. The ones that noticed Gerald's group entering began to boo.

"This is not particularly good for my ego," Gerald noted as they made their way towards the stage.

Chad looked to him and said, "Since when have you had an ego?"

Before the four could reach the stage, the air blurred, and Hanzaki stepped out. The Lycra-clad man had added a top hat to his outfit, and there was another new mark on the bizarre design on his chest. The Darkness Infected applauded.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hanzaki began. "You wanted the best and you're going to get the best! Here she is, the one you've waited for… the true proof that machines beat flesh any day… the _Pillar of Terror_… **_MENARDI!_**"

The curtains parted, and the Darkness Infected went wild with their applause as Menardi herself strolled out.

All four of the "normal" onlookers were stunned. Menardi was about Laura's height, with half her hair black and half blonde, and she wore a strapless black dress with a slit up one side. But this wasn't what was stunning (although she struck quite a figure).

No, what were stunning were the metal parts of her body. Menardi was a cyborg, plain and simple. Her left eye was a glowing red cybernetic replacement, most of her right arm was exposed machinery, her left leg was much the same way, and she had a slight corona of electricity around her. Her fingernails had metal edges to them, and were far longer than they had a right to be.

Menardi bowed to her audience, and then smiled at Gerald's group.

For the briefest of instances, the four saw the world in the darkest possible light, as though their truest fears were right there in front of them. All of them collapsed on the spot, twitching helplessly. Every Darkness Infected in the theater laughed.

After a few seconds, the effect wore off, and the four climbed to their feet, Gerald holding onto his head.

"Welcome to the Guthrie Theater," Menardi said, the computerized edge to her voice now making far more sense. "I'm glad you could make it."

"And I'm out of here," Hanzaki said, the air blurring as he jumped off of the stage and disappeared.

Menardi smiled a moment before continuing, "As he said before he ran for it, I am the Pillar of Terror, Menardi. Before you ask, no, I wasn't always half-metal. It's a long story… but hey, that's not the point. The point is that one of you gets to duel me!"

Before anyone could say anything, Laura got up, dusted off, and forced her way up to the stage, growling, "I call it. I'm going to tear that bitch apart for that little stunt of hers!"

"Wow, she's angry," Chad muttered, dusting his pants off. "Even by her standards. Anyone willing to tell her about that whole Image thing?"

Gerald caught Laura's arm, leaned in, and whispered into her ear at a very fast clip. There was a moment's pause as she took it in, and then she smiled, said, "Thanks for the warning", and climbed onto the stage.

"What did you say?" Lucifer said as they headed towards three seats that quickly vacated themselves.

"Just a quick lesson as to how Images work," Gerald replied.

Chad narrowed his eyes, asking, "Are you sure we can trust her with this?"

"We have no choice. Lucifer can't duel the Pillars and I'm in no state for another Dark Duel. We'll have to hope she can withstand it."

As Laura moved into place, activating her Duel Disk, she asked, "You said you weren't always a cyborg. Explain that."

"Do you know how Degas and Alexander create a Pillar?" Menardi began. "You take a human, infect them with the Darkness Infection, and then surround them in dark energy. When that energy solidifies, it creates a black obelisk – a pillar. That's where we got our names from. There are four of us, and each of us volunteered. As part of the Pillar process, our appearances altered – in my case, that's part of why I signed up.

"You may wonder why we volunteered. I can't speak for the Pillars of Chaos and Death, but I know about Jean-Vic – he was just a weedy little kid with a dumb name before he became the Pillar of Destruction. He always wanted to be a mighty force, like the ships in his games, and that's what he became.

"Me? I was the most average girl in the secretary pool. I always wanted to be striking, to be noticed. When Degas and Alexander showed up at the company – I've never figured out why – I jumped at the offer. They told me I would be a stunning beauty that could strike terror in the hearts of those I disliked, and they followed through on that offer.

"Okay, they never told me about the whole cyborg thing, but I think that's because of my deck." She smiled. "I think it makes me more attractive, myself. Now do you have any more questions, or can we get this Dark Duel underway? I can't spend all night on you – I want to drive all three of you mad with terror before the night's through."

Laura spat on the stage. "Shut up and duel."

In reply, Menardi raised her left arm and clawed into the side of it with her fingernails. No blood spilled; instead, a flat metal tray sprang out of her arm as if it were spring-loaded. She tore open the top of her arm, and her deck sprang out, loaded into a tray itself; the Life Point counter was on top of that.

"Impressive," Laura replied.

"It'll just get more so." Menardi raised her hand, whereupon the seal of the Dark Duel appeared around the two of them. "Now… let's get this show _started!_"

The Darkness Infected applauded, Gerald and company settled into their seats, and the Life Point counters set themselves at 8,000. The duel was underway.

With a slight chuckle, the cyborg extended a hand to Laura. "I'll let you begin this show, my dear…"

"Sure, as if you weren't creepy enough…" Laura drew her opening hand, picked out a card, and said, "I'll start by summoning Blade Knight in Attack Mode."

The blue-armored knight dropped into place on Laura's field, brandishing his sword and raising his shield. (1,600/1,000)

"Now I'll set a card facedown," Laura continued, "and that will end my turn."

Two of those long fingers slid another card off of Menardi's disk, and she gave it a moment's notice. After winking to the spectators, she said, "I'll set one monster in Defense Mode, and give it the reassurance of two cards facedown." The cards appeared on her field, and she smirked, which was not a good look on that face. "Your move."

Eyeing those facedown cards, Laura drew her next card and then said, "I'll go right into the attack. Blade Knight, attack her facedown monster with Shining Blade!"

The knight swung his sword around in one hand, drew it back, and charged across the field.

"Time to show off why I'm the Pillar of Terror… Activate Curse of Aging!" Menardi declared.

A small gold box, similar to the Pandora's Black Wisdom Jacob had used (Gerald winced at the thought), appeared in front of the Blade Knight, and he stopped his charge in confusion.

"What the…" Chad said.

Gerald, meanwhile, shut his eyes and sank into thought. "They say this game originated in Japan. There's a tale from there of a fisherman who spent what he thought was a few days with a princess of the sea. At the end of that time, she gave him a box as a souvenir, telling him not to open it. When the fisherman returned to his home, it was a hundred years later. So when he opened the box…"

"Exactly," Menardi interrupted. "All I have to do is discard one card, and for one turn the Blade Knight fills in for that fisherman – losing 500 Attack and Defense points." She took a card from her hand and discarded it.

By this point, the Blade Knight's curiosity was overwhelming. He opened the box… and a massive gush of purple vapors surrounded him. When they dissipated, the knight was leaning on his sword, breathing heavily and shaking with arthritic pain. His armor hung loosely on his body. (1,600/1,000 – 1,100/500)

The knight continued to stagger forward, finally reaching his target. He brought his sword down… and it merely bounced off of the opposing monster, which was revealed to be a young woman with blue skin and red dress, one eye concealed by a red band. (1,200/1,600)

"That would be my Etoile Cyber," Menardi said, chuckling. "Once, your Blade Knight might have proven a match for it, but now he can barely scratch its protective coating. Of course, since it's in Defense Mode, the knight will survive, but…"

With a giggle, the Etoile Cyber kicked the Blade Knight in the gut. The knight rolled backwards, slamming into Laura's feet. Her Life Points dropped to 7,500.

All around Gerald and Chad, the Darkness Infected cheered.

"All right…" Laura said, staring at her hand. "I'll summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in Attack Mode…"

The shadows blurred slightly, and then the ninja stepped out, adjusting the white bandage-like wrappings on his arms as his green tunic shifted. Once he was done, he drew out two kunai. (1,800/1,000)

"I'll set another card facedown, and end my turn," Laura finished. As she did so, the Curse of Aging wore off, returning the Blade Knight to his former level of strength. The armor fit him normally again, and he groaned with relief at that. (1,100/500 – 1,600/1,000)

"All right, then." Menardi drew another card, grinning evilly. "I summon Cyber Soldier of Dark World to the field in Attack Mode."

A shambling machine in the shape of a man stumbled onto Menardi's field, blue smoke pouring from one of its joints. It was mostly purple and blue, with tubes attached to key places to keep whatever fuel it was running on from pouring out. (1,400/1,200)

"That machine looks more like a prototype than my Jinzo #7s," Gerald noted.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes, muttering, "She must have a trick in mind…"

Taking another card from her hand, Menardi slid it into her Duel Disk, adding, "Now I'll enhance my soldier with the power of 7 Completed. I choose whether to raise its Attack Points by 700, or its Defense by the same amount… I'll choose Attack."

A laser beam shot onto the Cyber Soldier from off-stage, carving a large image of the number seven on its chest. Steam poured from the robot, and it slammed its fists together. (1,400/1,200 – 2,100/1,200)

"As poor as she was, Nina did show me what traps you have," Menardi said, chuckling slightly. "So I know you have nothing I can be really frightened of. Cyber Soldier of Dark World, attack the Blade Knight with Dark World Plasma!"

The air around the robot's fist began to grow hazy, as heat built up around it. Soon, the air began to turn red, then blue, and then white, and then suddenly burst into a nearly liquid form. The metal soldier drew its fist back…

"She didn't run into _this_ trap!" Laura declared. "I activate Magic Cylinder!"

Gerald and Chad looked at each other. "She has that?" Chad asked.

In reply, Gerald merely shrugged.

The soldier punched out, hurling the ball of plasma at Laura's Blade Knight. The knight merely snickered, watching as a large metal tube hovered in front of him. The tube caught the plasma, and then flipped over, revealing a targeting reticule.

Sweat poured down the cyborg woman's face as a crosshair focused on her stomach…

The plasma came hurtling out and slammed into Menardi's stomach, knocking her to the floor with a cry of pain. There was a loud clank as she hit the ground, and her Life Points dropped to 5,900.

The Darkness Infected in the crowd began to boo, yelling the random catcall at Laura.

After a moment, Menardi got back to her feet, the light in her left eye flickering. A single whack to the side of her head returned her eye to normal. "All right, so you can still surprise me," she muttered. "I'll set a card facedown and end my turn."

Laura drew, and then flipped her other facedown card. "This one was just a bluff, but it's still fairly useful," she said. "I activate Fissure!"

A massive crack tore itself into the stage under the duelists's feet, directly under the Etoile Cyber. In shock, the woman began to fall, and before she could grab hold of one of the crack's edges, the fissure closed, crushing her.

Gerald groaned, holding onto his head. "Bad memory," he said.

"Too bad Fissure only dealt with the weaker of my monsters," Menardi said to Laura, adjusting one of the bolts on her forearm.

"Yeah," Laura replied, "which is why I have Goblin Attack Force to deal with the stronger one. Come out in Attack Mode, guys!"

A bunch of club-wielding, hard-hatted goblins strode out onto Laura's field, muttering amongst themselves. (2,300/0)

"And in response to that," Menardi said, "I'll trigger my Threatening Roar, driving your monsters mad with fear and canceling your Battle Phase!"

A loud, echoing roar filled the theater, causing the Blade Knight to cower behind Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, who in turn cowered behind the Goblin Attack Force, which in turn cowered behind Laura. She didn't make the best hiding spot, however, being a good foot shorter than the goblins.

With a deep breath, Laura twitched one eyebrow and said, "I'll set a card facedown and end my turn."

Drawing her next card – the only card in her hand at this point – Menardi set it onto her field. "I'll just put this in Defense Mode, and that will be it." She batted her sole eyelid. "Don't want to risk hitting something like that Magic Cylinder again, hmm?"

"Zat was slightly unnerving…" Lucifer said. "Let us hope she does not bat her eye again."

Laura drew, looking over her hand. _Man, where's the first Sasuke Samurai when you need him?_ "I summon Sasuke Samurai #4 to the field in Attack Mode," she said.

The little man with the fussy mustache and samurai armor took his place next to the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke. The two exchanged a glare, whereupon the Sasuke Samurai adjusted his kabuto and retrieved his naginata. (1,200/1,200)

"Goblin Attack Force," Laura then ordered, "attack the Cyber Soldier of Dark World with Press Gang!"

The goblins grinned to each other and charged at the robot, bringing their clubs down hard. Sparks flew everywhere as they smashed it to pieces, at one point grabbing a severed arm and hammering away at the machine with it.

Menardi merely smiled as her Life Points rolled down to 5,700. _Mmmm… I've placed the rug directly under her feet. Soon I can pull it out._

Their job completed, the Goblin Attack Force plopped down on Laura's field, switching to Defense Mode almost by default as they took out a deck of playing cards.

Ignoring the in-progress game of poker, Laura then ordered, "Sasuke Samurai #4, attack her facedown monster with Daimyo's Blade!"

With a nod, the little warrior spun the bladed staff around his torso and charged Menardi's facedown monster, yelling a battle cry.

A coin appeared in Laura's hand as she explained, "When my monster attacks, I get to flip this coin. If I call it correctly, your monster will be destroyed by the effect and any flip effect will fail. I call heads!" She threw the coin in the air…

It spun three times, and landed tails-side-up.

"Doesn't stop the attack," Laura said, shrugging.

The Sasuke Samurai #4 jabbed his naginata into the facedown monster… which revealed itself as a Cyber Jar.

Gerald, Chad, Lucifer, and Laura all simultaneously slapped themselves on the forehead. The sounds were impressive.

Menardi laughed, clicking her fingernails against her Duel Disk. "You know what happens next. All of our monsters are destroyed, and we pick up the top five cards of our decks, summoning anything we can…"

The Jar opened up, revealing a vortex within itself. The Goblins were the first to go, rolling along the ground and into the jar before they could resist. The Ninja Grandmaster tried to cartwheel away, but the suction force of the jar drew him in before he could escape its range. Finally, the Blade Knight jammed his sword into the ground, trying to fight the force. All this achieved was that his sword stayed behind as he was sucked into the jar.

After the field was clear, the Cyber Jar flashed once, and then exploded in a giant fireball.

At that point, both Laura and Menardi took the top five cards off of their decks. "I'll reveal first," Laura said. "After all, it's still my turn."

"Go right ahead," Menardi replied.

Laura slid her cards over her Monster Zones, revealing their faces – Gearfried the Iron Knight, The Warrior Returning Alive, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, and an Equip Magic Card none of the spectators could recognize. "I summon both of my monsters in Attack Mode," she declared.

The mighty warrior in iron armor was the first to appear, the blades on his arms shining. (1,800/1,600) Joining him on Laura's field was the armored swordsman elf, rolling the edge of his blade across his fingertips. (1,400/1,200)

Taking her own cards, Menardi slid them into place. The first looked like a metal version of Summoned Skull; the second was a tall man in light violet armor modeled after a magician's robes, carrying a staff. The third card Gerald recognized as the Trap Card Mind Crush; the fourth was the Magic Card Smashing Ground. The fifth was another odd monster, this one a gigantic mechanical bird bearing a slight resemblance to the Cyber Falcon.

"Just like you did, I got two monsters I could summon," Menardi said. "Unlike you, however, I think I'll set both of mine facedown in Defense Mode."

Both of her cards shimmered into view, and she smiled gently. "It's still your Battle Phase, so… care to take a shot?"

_I saw the scores on those monsters for a minute,_ Laura thought. _I can kill the bird, but the metal fiend is too powerful for me to deal with. But I'm not sure which one of those is which… Hell with it. I can spare the Life Points if I mess up!_ "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian," she declared, "attack her right monster!"

The swordsman elf ran up to it and let out a mighty swing… which caught on the wings of the metal bird. It was an impressive sight, Laura had to admit – easily taller than she was, and its four wings possessed a span of over ten feet. (1,200/1,600)

"Bad luck, my dear," the cyborg said. "You attacked my Cyber Phoenix, which is just too much for your Guardian to handle."

Laura's Life Points moved down to 7,300, and she hissed. "But Gearfried is more than powerful enough! Attack it with Iron Edge!"

The iron knight slid up to the metal bird and slashed its head off, causing the body to explode in a spectacular display.

Menardi smiled. "Thank you. When it's destroyed in battle while face-up, my Cyber Phoenix gives me a card." She drew. "Anything else?"

Laura narrowed her eyes, saying, "I end my turn."

The Pillar of Terror drew her next card, fanning out her hand. "Ah… now I can begin my true plan. First of all, I set this facedown…" Her facedown card appeared in front of her. "And then I call on the Magic Card Smashing Ground, which lets me dispose of your highest-Defense monster. That would be Gearfried."

A gigantic fist came down from the sky, crushing Gearfried between its inhuman knuckles. All that was left was a mass of pressed metal resembling a flattened soda can, which soon shattered.

"With that taken care of, I'll summon a monster I just drew – a little someone I call the Cybernetic Cyclopean," Menardi continued.

At first glance, the monster she summoned was a very close facsimile to the Hitotsu-Me Giant. However, this one was covered in a shiny silver armor, its single eye burning angrily. It flexed one metal-covered hand and grinned in dark joy. (1,400/200)

"And with that, I'll end my turn," Menardi concluded.

_Well, switching the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to Defense would just cost me a monster…_ Laura thought as she drew.

Menardi's facedown card lifted, and the cyborg woman said, "I activate my Trap, Mind Crush. I simply declare one card that I believe is in your hand, and if it's present, you empty your hand of it. If I name a card you don't have, well, worst of luck to me. So…" She mock-pondered for a second. "I name Fusion Sword Murasame Blade."

"Oh, sure," Laura muttered. "Name a card you saw with the Cyber Jar…" She tossed the card in question to her Graveyard. "Okay, then…" _Yeesh, how can I have this many cards in my hand and no monsters except this guy? Switching the OCG to Defense Mode will just cost me another one, so…_ "I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, bringing Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke back to my hand!"

The ninja in question appeared in prone position on Laura's field. He stood up, dusting off and trying to get his bearings. After a moment, he started to walk back to Laura's hand.

"Stay where you are, Sasuke, because I'm just going to summon you now," Laura told him.

The ninja gave a barely perceptible shrug, flicked out his twin kunai, and spun in place, now glaring at Menardi. (1,800/1,000)

"I can deal with your Cyclopean whenever I feel like it," the girl said, "so I'll send Sasuke after your facedown monster. Too bad it's not face-up, or it would have died immediately, but… Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, attack with Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

In the audience, Gerald shook his head. "Overconfidence is lethal," he muttered.

The ninja's hands were a blur in front of him as he performed the art. When it was over, there was a cloud of smoke, and then ten of him came into being. All ten sprang into the air, coming down hard on Menardi's monster… which backhanded the entire group away. (1,000/2,000)

"Foolish girl," Menardi said, one hand concealing her smile. "You forgot that my Cyber Archfiend was just too hard for Sasuke to take down."

Laura's Life Points hit 7,100, and she scowled. "Fine," she said. "I'll set this card facedown and end my turn."

All around her, the Darkness Infected watching them let out a series of loud, jeering laughs.

As Menardi drew, she let out a soft cackle. "The final step of my true plan has just come to me. I start by employing the fear of loss of control – with this, Brain Control. For 800 Life Points, that ninja is mine until the end of the turn."

A pair of hands sculpted from lightning grabbed Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke's head, and he staggered onto Menardi's field. The Pillar's Life Points sank to 4,900, but she seemed nonchalant.

"Next," she continued, "I offer Sasuke as a Tribute to call down my Cybernetic Magician in Attack Mode!"

This monster was one Laura recognized – it was one Menardi had added to her hand during Cyber Jar's aftermath. He was taller than Laura was (to Laura's annoyance, that was the case with _most_ Duel Monsters), and dressed in metal robes colored a light violet. One hand held a short metal staff. (2,400/1,000)

"I set this last card facedown, and… well, look at my Cybernetic Cyclopean," Menardi finished.

As she said it, the beast-warrior's muscles bulged hard, and he exhaled a hot burst of steam, clenching his fists. (1,400/200 – 2,400/200)

"Zat's right," Lucifer said, one eyebrow raising. "When ze Pillar's hand is empty, zat monster gains 1,000 Attack Points."

"Now, I know none of my monsters can harm the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian," Menardi concluded, "so I'll just end my turn on that."

_I've heard of this one,_ Laura thought. _Cyber Archfiend, Cybernetic Cyclopean and Cybernetic Magician… but what was their trick again?_ She drew her next card.

"I activate Dust Tornado!" Menardi declared. "The older of your two facedown cards is history!"

Laura grunted as her Negate Attack blew apart. "I'll just set this guy in Defense Mode, switch the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian into Defense Mode, and call that my turn," she said, a facedown monster coming into being as her elf swordsman knelt.

Before Menardi could draw, the Cyber Archfiend glowed with black energy. "As I have no cards in my hand," she explained, "my Cyber Archfiend allows me to draw two cards during my Draw Phase." She drew twice, and then said, "Now I'll switch it to Attack Mode…"

The metallic fiend rose to its feet, electricity crackling around it.

"Now I'll equip it with this," Menardi said, turning a card in her hand around. "It's called Cyber Disruptor. I can only equip it to monsters with 'Cyber' or 'Cybernetic' in their names, but the equipped monster gets 500 extra Attack Points and negates the effects of monsters it attacks."

A large blue box appeared on the Cyber Archfiend's chest, weaving wires throughout its body. There was a sizzling noise as the fiend's electrical field increased in strength. (1,000/2,000 – 1,500/2,000)

_Goodbye, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian,_ Laura thought.

Menardi then said, "Just to up the ante, I'll invoke the effect of my Cybernetic Magician. I just discard one card, and I can make the Attack Points of any monster in play 2,000. Since your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian is doomed anyway, I'll give the Cyber Archfiend a boost."

As she discarded a card, the Cybernetic Magician held his staff in front of him and began to chant. A circle of runes surrounded the Cyber Archfiend, and it clenched its fists as the runes appeared on its chest. (1,500/2,000 – 2,000/2,000)

With Menardi's hand empty, the Cybernetic Cyclopean let out a roar, restored once again to its full power.

"This is going to suck," Chad muttered. All around him, the Darkness Infected began to applaud.

"Cyber Archfiend," Menardi ordered, "attack Obnoxious Celtic Guardian with Virtual Lightning Strike!"

Electricity hummed on the metallic fiend's claws, and he extended them to the sky, launching a giant bolt of lightning into the sky. It came down on the elf swordsman, blowing him to his component atoms.

"Continue the assault, Cybernetic Cyclopean – attack her facedown monster with Virtual Eye Cannon!" Menardi continued.

The one-eyed armored monster tilted his head back, drawing a massive amount of power into his single eye. Thrusting his head forward, he unleashed a massive surge of energy, obliterating Laura's Sasuke Samurai #3.

"I activate Call of the Haunted, bringing back my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" Laura said as her monster burned away.

The Guardian rose onto her field in a cloud of smoke, brandishing his sword. (1,400/1,200)

Menardi frowned, but then gave a slight shrug. "He can't die, yes, but the trap brought him back in Attack Mode. Cybernetic Magician, attack with Virtual Sorcery Blast!"

Drawing his staff back, the Cybernetic Magician began to chant in what sounded like binary. Four circles of runes rotated around his body as he continued the chant, before flashing and disappearing. With that, the Cybernetic Magician fired a beam of pure light through the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's body and into Laura's, causing her to cry out as her Life Points sank to 6,100.

"That will end it for me," Menardi concluded, watching as the Cyber Archfiend's attack returned to its original score.

Laura drew, biting her lip. _No matter what I do, I can't strike back just yet._ She glanced at her card and smirked. _Won't this surprise Gerald?_ "I set a card facedown, switch my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to Defense Mode, and end my turn," Laura announced. Once again, the elf swordsman knelt before her.

The Cyber Archfiend glowed again, and Menardi drew her two cards. "Hmmm… I set this card facedown and this monster in Defense Mode…" Both card silhouettes came into being before her. "Now, Cybernetic Archfiend, do away with the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian – Virtual Lightning Strike!"

Once again, the metallic fiend charged up its fists and fired electricity into the sky. It came down in a crackling bolt, blowing the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian away.

"I activate Scapegoat!" Laura declared, turning over her facedown card. Four tiny goat tokens bobbed into being in front of her. (0/0 x4)

Gerald and Chad looked at each other. "Didn't see that coming," Gerald said.

The cyborg merely shrugged, saying, "Cybernetic Cyclopean, Cybernetic Magician, tear them apart."

The one-eyed monster tore one of the Scapegoats to shreds with a beam from his eye, and the Cybernetic Magician burned another one to ashes with his magic.

"I'll end my turn on that," Menardi said.

Chad was deep in thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers. "I read about this a few months ago," he said. "Menardi's strategy… it's called the 'Cyber Lock', although it's not really a lock. The key is to get the three Cybernetic monsters – Cyber Archfiend, Cybernetic Magician, and Cybernetic Cyclopean – out at the same time. I think you can work out the details…"

"Ah, yes," Gerald replied. "The Archfiend lets you draw two cards when your hand's empty in the Draw Phase, but dies if you hold any cards in the End Phase. The Cyclopean gains power from an empty hand and the Magician gives you another way to empty your hand before the turn ends."

"Is zere a weakness to zis strategy?" Lucifer asked.

"A few. You can only give one card to the Magician's effect each turn, so if you can't play your _other_ card, the strategy collapses. And, of course, there's the traditional discarding weakness – you could lose something you can't afford to lose." Gerald paused. "With Menardi, however, I don't think that's as much of a worry."

Laura drew a card, and then her lip quivered slightly. _This is going to hurt._ "I have no choice but to pass," she said.

The Darkness Infected began to cheer at this, although their cries had yet to reach fever pitch.

Gerald, meanwhile, slid his arm before his eyes. Chad kept watching, but he shared Gerald's sentiments.

While the Cyber Archfiend gave off its black glow, Menardi drew her two cards… and then began to laugh. "I finally drew it! Now… now you're going to feel the true agony of fear…"

"Oh, don't tell me…" Lucifer began.

"I activate **_True Face of Terror_**!" Menardi declared, slapping the card onto her disk.

The theater suddenly began to grow dark, a cold chill following as the lights came down. Out of the corner of their eyes, the spectators could see terrible… _things_ flitting about to either side. The stage looked decrepit now, as if one wrong step would send the duelists plummeting.

"Allow me to explain its effect," the Pillar of Terror said. "It's not quite as powerful as the wimp's True Face of Destruction, but I don't suffer any game drawbacks either. If one of your monsters attacks me, that monster can't attack again or switch its mode for a number of turns equal to half its Level Stars. And if it _tries_ to attack me directly…" She grinned. "It dies. Pure and simple."

"And the Card of Night drawback?" Chad said from the audience.

"If I take any amount of Battle Damage…" Menardi shrugged. "…one of my bones will break. But that's not really an issue."

_How can she be so nonchalant about instant fractures?_ Lucifer wondered.

"I'll discard my other card to power the Cybernetic Magician's effect – just for fun; I'll enhance one of your Scapegoats." Menardi snickered behind her hand.

The Cybernetic Magician looked at Menardi, a look of confusion on his face, and then turned and began to chant. The Scapegoat grew to four times its usual size, and glanced about itself, disoriented. (0/0 – 2,000/0)

"Now, Cyber Archfiend and Cybernetic Cyclopean, dispose of her Scapegoats," Menardi continued.

It took only seconds for the lightning and eyebeam to destroy Laura's last defenses, leaving her wide open.

As the Darkness Infected cheered louder, all three of the "normal" spectators looked away.

Menardi waved towards her opponent, saying, "Cybernetic Magician, direct attack! Virtual Sorcery Blast!"

The Magician pointed his staff towards Laura, chanting the same chant as before. The girl took a step back, but there was nowhere to go. The circles of runes surrounded the spellcaster, vanished… and then he let loose that beam of magic, tearing into Laura's very essence with one massive burst of power.

The redhead hadn't braced herself, and so the blast threw her across the stage, slamming her into the outer edge of the Dark Duel's seal. Her Life Points dove down to 3,700 as she hit the ground.

Every Darkness Infected in the theater cheered, some of them jumping to their feet and applauding. One of them was right next to Lucifer; after a moment's blank staring, the Beloved of Fire turned and punched him out.

There was silence for a moment, as Laura lay on the floor in shock and Menardi just watched. Finally, the cyborg asked, "That will end my turn… do you have anything you'd like to say?"

"Four words," Laura replied. "**_I… call… my… Image!_**"

The Pillar of Terror blinked, and then said, "Oh."

A white mist emerged from Laura's back as she climbed back to her feet. This mist slowly took form, turning into a human figure. After a moment, the mist condensed into a tall woman with brown hair and an icy expression, clad in green armor and carrying a longsword and shield.

_Even my Image is taller than I am!_ Laura thought.

"Kanan the Swordmistress," Gerald said once he resumed watching the duel. "That makes an almost ridiculous amount of sense."

Menardi placed one of her fingers to her lip, and then shook her head. "I don't know what it does, and I don't care," she said. "Your turn."

Laura dusted herself off, drawing her next card. As she did so, there was a rush of images in her head, like memories she had forgotten up to that moment. Instinct kicked in, and she understood what her Image could do. "I play the Magic Card Reinforcement of the Army," she began, "letting me bring any Level Four or less warrior to my hand. I'll take Zombyra the Dark!"

Behind her, Kanan whistled, and the zombie-vampire superhero landed next to her. He bowed briefly to Kanan, and then jumped into Laura's hand.

"Next," Laura continued, "I summon Zombyra the Dark in Attack Mode!"

A spotlight traveled up the stage curtain and into the rafters, silhouetting the noble warrior as he posed up there. He sprang down from the heights and landed in front of Laura, posing as a gust of wind blew his cape aside. (2,100/500)

Laura's Image raised her sword, and Zombyra placed his hands on his hips, staring down the Pillar of Terror as an aura surrounded him. (2,100/500 – 2,300/500)

"Your Image effect?" Menardi asked.

"Exactly," Laura replied. "It's like a permanent, indestructible The A. Forces. For every warrior or spellcaster I control, my warriors gain 200 Attack Points. And it'll just get stronger with this card…" She held up the odd Equip she'd gained from Cyber Jar, which had a picture of Zombyra holding up his fist, surrounded by blue lightning. "It's called Pure Might, and to activate it, I have to discard a card from my hand. So I'll do so and equip it to Zombyra!"

Discarding her other Gearfried, Laura slid the Magic Card into place. A spark of blue energy emerged from Zombyra the Dark's stomach, covering his body as he convulsed. A moment later, however, the hero threw his head back and let out a loud battle cry. (2,300/500 – 3,100/500)

"Pure Might raises a monster's Attack Points by 800," Laura said, "and erases all of its effects. In short, it's the perfect card for Zombyra! Zombyra, attack the Cybernetic Magician with Noble Fist!"

The hero threw himself forward and drove his fist into the armored magician's stomach. A wave of energy blew outwards from the point of impact, tearing the magician apart and sending Menardi's Life Points to 4,200.

"And that scuttles the lock," Chad noted. "Without the Magician, keeping her hand empty will be a chore at best."

But the instant the attack faded, a truly horrible face flashed into being for the briefest of instances. Zombyra the Dark stumbled back, holding onto his head in shock.

"True Face of Terror, right," Laura said. "But why didn't I hear a bone snap when your Life Points took the hit? Isn't that the card's kicker?"

"I'm a cyborg, Laura," Menardi replied. "My bones are mostly made of metal. They _can't_ break, try as the Darkness might. The true wielder of a Card of Night knows how to work around its punishment. Oh, by the way…" Her facedown card lifted. "Now is a good time to set off Magical Explosion. I can only do so when my hand's empty, and it will knock off 200 Life Points for each of your Magic Cards in the Graveyard. That makes 1,000 points, I believe."

The stage under Laura exploded, throwing bits of wood everywhere and leaving a disturbing, green cloud of smoke behind. Her Life Points dropped to 2,700.

"In that case…" Laura coughed as the smoke dissipated. "I'll end my turn on that."

For what was likely the last time, the Cyber Archfiend glowed, and Menardi drew her two cards. She growled, saying, "Farewell, Cyber Archfiend… I set a card facedown, switch the Cybernetic Cyclopean into Defense Mode, and end my turn." The large, armored cyclops knelt. "There's a card in my hand, so the Cyber Archfiend dies." As she said it, the metallic fiend faded away into nothingness.

That being said, Laura drew, and then smiled as she recognized what she'd drawn. "I'll play Pot of Avarice," she announced, "shuffling five monsters in my Graveyard back to my deck and drawing twice." Taking both Sasuke Samurais, the Goblin Attack Force, Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, and the Blade Knight from her Graveyard, she shuffled them into her deck and drew two cards. "Next, I summon the Marauding Captain I just drew!"

The old, scarred soldier emerged, hefting his two swords. He sighed as he realized what he was up against. (1,200/400) After a moment, he whistled, calling out the Sasuke Samurai #3; the little ronin adjusted his coat and drew both swords. (1,000/1,000)

Kanan hefted her blade and called out a war cry, and both warriors felt a little better. (1,200/400 – 1,800/400; 1,000/1,000 – 1,600/1,000; 3,100/500 – 3,500/500)

"Out of curiosity," Laura asked, "does the True Face of Terror round up or down?"

"Up, of course," Menardi replied. "It's a Card of Night, remember?"

Laura nodded. "I see… Marauding Captain, attack her facedown monster, and Sasuke Samurai #3, attack the Cybernetic Cyclopean!"

The old soldier charged, slashing through the facedown monster with both swords. A Cyber Commander flew out, slashed to pieces, and his head rolled past Menardi's feet. (750/700) As that happened, the little ronin drew out two blades and carved the cyclops into three separate parts, which fell like a banana peel.

Two truly horrible images flashed, and the two warriors staggered back, falling to their knees. Even with this happening, however, the Darkness Infected still booed and jeered, all of them on their feet now… excepting the one Lucifer had punched out.

"Ah, well," Laura said. "I'll set this facedown and call that my turn."

Drawing but a single card this time, Menardi slapped it onto the field. "Pot of Greed!" She ignored the hologram, her fingernails nicking the cards she'd drawn. She then smiled, and said, "You have a monster and I don't, so…"

Gerald sat upright in his chair, groaned, and said, "Please don't let it be _that_ monster."

"Come on out, Cyber Dragon!" Menardi declared as she played the monster.

A beam of light shone on the field, bending and warping itself into a long, worm-like configuration. The light faded, revealing a gigantic metal creature that more closely resembled a snake than a dragon. (2,100/1,600)

"Cyber Dragons… I _hate_ Cyber Dragons," Gerald muttered.

Chad's eyebrow went up. "Outside of Jacob, I didn't think you could hate anything."

"I hate many things. I hate ricotta cheese, I hate _American Idol_, and I hate Cyber Dragons. Every fool in Augusta used them, proclaiming them 'mighty' or 'unstoppable'. They never _beat_ me with them, but…"

"Ricotta cheese?" Lucifer asked.

"A little too bitter in my opinion," Gerald said.

On the stage, Laura stared at the Cyber Dragon, beginning to sweat. _The last time I ran into one of those metal freaks, the deck took me apart! Zombyra could dismantle it without breaking a sweat, but he can't attack again for another turn – and my other warriors are sitting ducks!_

"I also activate my facedown, Cybernetic Emergence," Menardi continued. "When I summon a monster with Cyber or Cybernetic in its name, I can Special Summon all other monsters of the same name from my hand, deck, or Graveyard in Attack Mode – just by paying 500 Life Points. In exchange, however, I have to let you do the same thing with one of _your_ monsters. Once there was one Cyber Dragon, and now there'll be three!"

Two more of the mechanical snake-like creatures appeared on Menardi's field, exhaling steam. (2,100/1,600 x3) Menardi's Life Points sank to 3,700 in the meanwhile.

_Okay, that was just dumb,_ Laura thought. "I'll bring out my other two Marauding Captains, then."

Two more of the battle-scarred veterans strolled out of Laura's deck, glaring at the cyborg woman who'd scared their counterpart. (1,200/400)

With five warriors on the field, Kanan shouted her loudest, most powerful battle cry, and all five of Laura's warriors shared in the call. (1,200/400 – 2,200/400 x3; 1,600/1,000 – 2,000/1,000; 3,500/500 – 3,900/500)

"You know what you just triggered, right?" Laura asked Menardi.

"The Captain's Lock, yes. When there are multiple Marauding Captains, I can't attack any of your monsters, because the Marauding Captains draw all attacks on warriors to themselves." The cyborg shrugged. "But then again, you can only attack with two of your monsters next turn, so why should I be afraid? I'll summon Cyber Raider in the interim."

A muscled man in blue and yellow armor dropped onto Menardi's field, face hidden under a large helmet. (1,400/1,000)

"His effect lets me steal or destroy an Equip Magic Card on one of your monsters, so…" Menardi thought for a moment. "Cyber Raider, destroy her Pure Might."

Lucifer looked to Gerald, confusion on his brow. "Why didn't she steal zat card? Her Cyber Raider would have had enough Attack Points to scare off anyzing less zan Zombyra."

"I think I understand," Gerald replied. "She wants her Image."

The Beloved of Fire paused, and then said, "You must be right…"

On the stage, the Cyber Raider sidled up to Zombyra and punched him in the chest. There was a flash of blue energy, and the Pure Might drained away from Zombyra, leaving him staggering and breathing hard. (3,900/500 – 3,100/500)

"I'll set this facedown," Menardi said, "and end my turn there." A facedown card glowed next to True Face of Terror.

Laura drew, noting her full field of monsters, and let out a sigh. "All right, then. Marauding Captain, attack her Cyber Raider."

The old soldier charged ahead, spinning and bringing both swords to bear on the armored man. In seconds, he'd chopped the warrior into three pieces, throwing them everywhere. Menardi's Life Points lowered to 2,900.

"Thanks, my dear," Menardi said, laughing as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "**_Come out and play, my Image!_**"

The black fog of a Pillar's Image emerged from her body and began to take shape behind her, solidifying slowly. In a few moments, its true form was revealed: an exceptionally tall woman with light skin and long white hair, clad in a gray body stocking with several golden hoops around her shoulders, wrists and waist. Her face was hidden behind a heart-shaped mask.

"Cyber Prima?" Laura said. "I can't say it doesn't fit you – she's just as much of an attention whore."

"Oh, I'd say it's a little late to suck up, little one," Menardi said. "By the way, I activate my Michizure. I hope your _other_ Marauding Captain doesn't have a fear of heights…"

As another flash of that hideous face drove the attacking Marauding Captain into hysterics, the ground fell away under the feet of his partner, and he plunged into a bottomless void. All of Laura's monsters lost the requisite amount of Attack Points as Kanan shed a tear. (3,100/500 – 2,900/500; 2,200/400 – 2,000/400 x2; 2,000/1,000 – 1,800/1,000)

"I'll end my turn on that note, then." Laura sighed.

Menardi drew, and then smirked, saying, "Time to show you the wonders of Cyber Prima's Image Effect. It's called Spotlight, and I can invoke it during my Standby Phase."

The Cyber Prima raised one hand and pointed to one of Laura's Marauding Captains. A spotlight focused on him, and he gulped, sweating nervously. All around him, Laura's other monsters seemed to weaken as the darkness outside the spotlight grew blacker.

"Until my next turn, only the monster Spotlight is focused on can attack…" The Pillar of Terror grinned then, a vicious look. "And all your _other_ monsters lose their effects while they're not in the Spotlight."

"What?" Laura shouted. "That's not fair!"

"I'm a Pillar – it's not _supposed_ to be!" Menardi held up another card. "And to deal with Zombyra, I'll play this – Chthonian Alliance – on one of my Cyber Dragons…"

The equipped Cyber Dragon convulsed for a moment as green and black fire spiraled up its body. Soon, however, it had recovered, and it stared greedily at Laura as its body leached power from its brothers. (2,100/1,600 – 3,700/1,600)

"For every other Cyber Dragon, my first Cyber Dragon gains 800 Attack Points, as you see. Now…" The Pillar of Terror gestured to one of her unequipped Cyber Dragons. "Take down the Marauding Captain with Strident Blast!"

The Cyber Dragon charged up its jaws, blue light escaping from them. There was a whip crack, and it let loose a burst of energy, frying the Marauding Captain. The spotlight vanished with the monster's death, returning the other monsters to the light even as they weakened.

Laura glanced to her Life Points, now reading 2,600, and groaned. _This isn't good. She saw through my facedown card – if only I had Draining Shield instead of Greed…_

"Second Cyber Dragon," Menardi continued, "take down the other Marauding Captain! Strident Blast!"

As she'd ordered, the Cyber Dragon reduced the weakened soldier (1,800/400) to ashes with a bolt of blue lightning. Laura's Life Points hit 2,300, and Kanan was openly weeping behind her.

The Pillar of Terror let out a laugh, announcing, "My equipped Cyber Dragon, get rid of the monster hero! Attack with Chthonian Strident Blast!"

This time, as the giant metal worm charged up its attack, green and black fire danced on its jaws. It let loose a massive burst of hellish energies, leaving nothing behind where Zombyra (2,500/500) had stood a second before.

Laura stared ahead, her Life Points at 1,100 and her Image on her hands and knees, weeping in sorrow.

All around Gerald and company, the Darkness Infected were giving Menardi a standing ovation, cheering at the tops of their lungs. In their enthusiasm, some of them outright fainted.

"Don't worry too much – when the monster Spotlight was focused on dies, its effect comes to a halt. If you find a worthwhile monster, you can attack with it – but I doubt it. My turn's over." Menardi winked her one flesh-and-blood eye. "Your move, my dear."

"But what can she do?" Chad asked. "Menardi's Cyber Dragons have her pinned, and most of the good monsters in her deck have already come and gone!"

"I feel sorry for our little Laura," Lucifer said. "She has come a long way for nozing, it seems…"

Between them, however, Gerald had fallen asleep… and within his deck, the Heaven's Sphere glowed…

**0000000**

_Laura stared into space, not actually looking at anything – her opponent, her cards, anything. She couldn't figure a way out of this; her favorite monster was dead and her only other monster couldn't even switch to Defense Mode for another turn. All she held in her hand was Heavy Storm (which wouldn't help much – could Cards of Night even be destroyed?) and another monster that wouldn't survive a single turn._

It's over,_ she thought. Her hand inched to her deck…_

"_I advise against that, Miss Vesnic," a familiar, bored voice said._

_Laura looked up and saw Gerald next to her. His body was indistinct and hazy, as it was when he'd appeared in the cage during her duel with Ogre. Glancing into the audience, she saw him asleep._

"_What the hell are you doing here?" she asked him._

_Gerald said in response, "I think I'm here to give an encouraging speech."_

"_I'd rather shoot myself, thank you very much." _

"I thought you might, but I'm going to do it anyway. If you feel encouraged enough at any point, just tell me to go away. Do you really think Jessica would want to see you give up like that?"

Laura shrugged. "At the moment, I don't care what my sister thinks. I'm screwed royally no matter what I do…"

_For a moment, Gerald didn't reply, although she could hear him muttering "Encouragement won't work on this one" under his breath. He then said, "It only looks that way… Just a moment." He reached down, tugged Laura's deck out of its slot, and began to look through it._

_The girl blinked and then said, "What do you think you're doing? I'm in the middle of a duel!" _

"This isn't your real deck I'm working with – it's the astral embodiment of your deck. I'm still manipulating the cards, but nobody can see it. Or hear us talking, which should cut down on any humiliation." He found one card in particular and whistled. "This should help you a great deal…" Taking it and two other cards, he placed them on the top of her deck.

"_Isn't that cheating?" Laura asked._

"_When Yugi Motoh does it, we call it 'the Heart of the Cards'," Gerald replied. "Now go win." He vanished._

**0000000**

Gerald woke up and smiled slightly, making Chad and Lucifer tilt their heads.

Laura drew, and let out a little gasp. _So that's what he put there._ "I'll start with Heavy Storm!" she said, adding mentally, _Hope this works…_

A hurricane struck the field, obliterating all of the Magic and Trap cards it touched. Laura's own Greed card disappeared in the windstorm, as did the Chthonian Alliance on Menardi's side. The flames left her Cyber Dragon, reducing its power to normal.

The true damage, however, was when True Face of Terror began to shake and quiver under the strain of the wind. Suddenly, the top half of the card broke off, as if the card were too deeply rooted into the field just to let go. A second later, the bottom half shattered into a thousand pieces.

Menardi grabbed her head and screamed, a thousand hideous images surrounding her as the True Face of Terror fell into her Graveyard. The Card of Night pried at her for a second more before the images vanished and she calmed down.

"I wonder what would have happened to Jean-Vic if I had destroyed the True Face of Destruction," Gerald said.

Chad replied, "I doubt he would have survived."

"Now that _that's_ taken care of," Laura continued, "I can switch my Sasuke Samurai #3 to Defense Mode, and I will." The samurai knelt. "Next, I play Pot of Greed." She drew two cards, and then smiled at them._ The last of my cards from Ulysses and… him. _She concluded, "I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

Catching her breath, the furious Pillar of Terror drew a card, hissing. "You… you'll pay in blood for that! Cyber Dragon, dispose of the Sasuke Samurai #3!"

A quick Strident Blast reduced the little samurai to a puff of smoke.

"My second Cyber Dragon," Menardi continued, "take out her facedown monster!"

The second Cyber Dragon charged up its Strident Blast and let loose with a bolt of blue lightning. For a moment, the image of a heavily armored knight appeared, and then it vanished in a cloud of ash.

"That was my Familiar Knight," Laura explained. "We can both Special Summon a monster of Level Four from our hand when it dies in battle. And I'll bring out a monster I've never managed to summon before…"

The spectators and Menardi all leaned forward on that. In the back of her mind, Menardi thought, _I can't use that effect…_

"So let me present the Master of Chains!" Laura declared, setting the card into place on her Duel Disk.

For a moment, the air in front of Laura warped. From this warp leapt a very… odd individual. He had long blonde hair, and wore a red bandana on top of that. His clothes consisted of a long-sleeved shirt with what seemed to be the Union Jack on the front, old jeans, and a denim vest. In either hand he held a sharp sickle, and his weapons were joined by a long chain. He tossed one sickle to the other hand and rubbed the back of his head. (1,600/1,300)

Kanan brightened up at his presence and brandished her sword. In response, the Master of Chains waved to her. (1,600/1,300 – 1,800/1,300)

Menardi smirked at that point, her red eye glowing brightly. "That was a lot of buildup for such a weakling."

"He's not a weakling," Laura interrupted. "He's actually sort of the warrior's Shadow Ghoul – he gains 100 Attack Points for each warrior in my Graveyard; I have nine monsters in there, so it's 900 points. Since he only gains that bonus from warriors, he's a Level Four. Now do you get the picture?"

Tossing his sickle back to his other hand, the Master of Chains united them over his head. A red light surrounded him, and he shut his eyes, glowing brightly. (1,800/1,300 – 2,700/1,300)

Menardi gaped, thinking, _Spotlight means nothing – my Image only helps if they have multiple monsters! _She then stammered, "I end my turn…"

Laura drew, smiled, and said, "I'll set a card facedown. Now, Master of Chains, attack one of the Cyber Dragons with Chain Bomber!"

The Master of Chains sprang forward, driving his chain up through the Cyber Dragon's skin and leaving a long chain of fire in its wake. He dropped to the ground just as the monster exploded, sending Menardi's Life Points to 2,300.

Lucifer couldn't resist a yell of, "_C'est magnifique!_" at that point, clichéd as it was.

"Your turn," she told Menardi.

Drawing a card, Menardi hurled it onto her Duel Disk. "I activate Limiter Removal!" she yelled. "This doubles my Cyber Dragon's Attack Points!"

Steam shot out of the joints of both Cyber Dragons as this took place, their bodies rushed with energy. (2,100/1,600 – 4,200/1,600)

Gerald shook his head. "She's acting on pure fear," he observed. "This duel is done." He then yawned.

"Crush the Master of Chains! Dual Strident Blast!" Menardi screamed.

Laura flipped over her facedown card. "Does Negate Attack mean anything to you, Menardi?"

The Pillar of Terror grabbed at her hair and yelled, "I destroyed that card already! You can't use it again!"

"Where does it say I can only have one?"

The invisible wall came into being between Menardi and Laura, cutting off the Strident Blasts before they ever touched Laura. In the audience, the Darkness Infected went insane, booing louder than they ever had before.

Tears streamed from Menardi's one good eye as she set a card onto her disk. "I'll set this… and end my turn. Limiter Removal destroys my Cyber Dragons…" And so they exploded in twin balls of fire.

Laura drew, and then played her monster. "Meet the last member of the Sasuke Samurai clan. His name is Sasuke Samurai #2, and I'll summon him in Attack Mode."

One more miniature swordsman appeared; this one had a red topknot, leather armor, and a very large sword. On his back was a large basket. He glared at the weeping Pillar of Terror with a furious gaze. (200/300) Kanan sighed in relief, and the Master of Chains waved to the little samurai, who nodded his recognition. (2,700/1,300 – 2,900/1,300; 200/300 – 600/300)

"What good is he?" Menardi asked.

"By paying 800 Life Points, I can prevent either of us from activating Magic or Trap cards until the end of my turn. I'll do so," Laura said. Her Life Points dropped to 300 at that point.

The Sasuke Samurai took a knife from the basket on his back and threw it into Menardi's facedown card. The Pillar just wept all the harder.

"Master of Chains, finish her with Midare Gami," Laura said with a tone of finality.

The Master of Chains threw his chain out, watching it wrap around Menardi's body. Other chains came from nowhere, drawing the defeated Pillar of Terror into the air as they wrapped around her. She was almost unconscious by the time the chains stopped appearing.

Crossing his arms in front of himself, the Master of Chains yelled, "_Have a nice day!_"

There was a tremendous explosion as all of the chains detonated at once, and Menardi's Life Points shot to zero.

The Darkness Infected began to boo, rising as if they were going to storm the stage and tear Laura apart… but then they stopped, standing like terracotta soldiers.

On the stage, the smoke cleared, revealing Menardi still suspended by the chains. Said holograms vanished, and she fell to the ground. As she hit the stage, the metal parts of her body shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving her as nothing but an ordinary woman.

Every one of the Darkness Infected convulsed, the infection vanishing from them, and collapsed into their seats, unconscious. For a moment, Chad couldn't help but notice a resemblance between them and Gerald, who was once more asleep.

Eventually, the lazy young man awoke, stretched out, and slid out of his chair. "So it worked, then…"

Jumping off the stage, Laura strolled through the aisles until she got to Gerald. She then embraced him, sighing gently. Despite his confusion, the young man returned the embrace.

"What's zis about?" Lucifer asked, giving a wry smile.

Laura shot him a glare, but then worked her way through her deck until the Master of Chains came up. "I still can't believe I finally managed to play this card… I was about to take it out of the deck."

"If you never managed to play it, why was it in your deck?" Chad asked.

"Jessica asked me to keep it in there…" Blushing, Laura added, "You see, Walter Kanlon – her fiancé – looks just like him. The card works great in this deck, but I could never get him into play until now."

Gerald nodded in understanding, and then placed one hand to his head as a massive headache struck him.

"Back away, vision incoming!" Chad yelled. The group left Gerald with plenty of room to collapse as the vision struck him…

**0000000**

_This time, the vision started with something Gerald recognized – the Thousand-Year Door. It was a year since the last time he'd seen it, but you tend not to forget something that big._

_However, he then moved beyond it – something he'd never done before – and found himself making his way through the endless depths until he reached the end, whereupon he saw the final battle with the Shadow Queen. (He just knew who she was – it came with the vision, it seemed.)_

_The vision, however, only gave him a highlight reel… and it wasn't what he was here to see, anyway. The crux of the vision was a series of black lines, leading from the Shadow Queen throughout the lair. Nobody else could see them, it seemed – all the onlookers seemed not to notice._

_  
And then Gerald realized it: as far as everyone else was concerned, those lines didn't exist. He gave it some thought, and then noticed that some of the lines were more of a dark gray than black. The conclusion was that they were her connections to the Darkness and the Shadow._

_The vision skipped ahead to the final blow, when the Shadow Queen's life came to a crashing end. As she died, the lines snapped…_

…_and the vision pulled him skyward, as the lines fled from the dying queen. The air rippled around him, as the Darkness made a silent call to all other dark beings._

_Something answered the call. As the Shadow lines went elsewhere, Gerald found himself traveling along with the Darkness lines, heading somewhere in the world…_

…_and as he'd thought, the lines of Darkness hooked themselves to Degas._

_And the vision ended there._

**0000000**

Gerald awoke on the floor of the Guthrie to find that, once again, Lucifer's jacket was under his head. But this time, his head was in Laura's lap as well. He looked up, and Laura blushed.

"I thank you," he said simply, sitting up. As he did so, the girl took Lucifer's jacket off of her lap and shook it out.

Chad and Lucifer themselves emerged from the backstage area of the Guthrie, shaking their heads. Seeing that Gerald was awake, Chad called, "Menardi's gone. She vanished while we were all watching you collapse with the vision, and she's nowhere around here. What happens to these Pillars after we beat them, anyway?"

"I can't say I'm particularly curious." Gerald stood up at that point, dusting off his pants.

The Beloved of Fire moved up to Laura, who handed him his jacket. He slid it on, saying, "Allow me to go on record as feeling glad zat zat's over. I do not appreciate having my worst fears used against me. Zank you for dealing with zat woman, Madame Vesnic."

"Not a problem," Laura said, getting up as well. "I wasn't about to let her get away with it, either. Some things shouldn't be relived."

"I'm not going to ask."

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Menardi woke up, facedown on a filthy bed. She was on one side of a dark room, with a bizarre chalk outline on the floor. Just looking at it made her head hurt.

The former Pillar of Terror sat up and ran her fingers over her arms. All the mechanical parts were gone, but from the looks of her limbs, she still looked about the same otherwise. After a brief wave of relief at keeping her looks, Menardi began to worry about her immediate future.

A door suddenly opened along one of the walls, and Degas and Alexander entered. The man in green stayed back, while the man in black moved up to her.

Light streamed into the room from the open door, giving Menardi her first good look at Degas. He was rather thin, and as a result, his head seemed somewhat too large for his torso. It didn't help matters that he was totally bald. He wore sunglasses, and every few seconds he pushed them back up on his nose. His skin had the color and the apparent texture of fine china.

"Good morning, Miss Abernathy," Degas said. "Well, perhaps 'good' is the wrong word."

Sitting up, she asked, "When are you going to get it over with?"

"What do you mean, Miss Abernathy?"

"I lost the duel," she replied. "You said that if I lost I would find out what happened to Jean-Vic. So just do it already."

Degas glanced to Alexander, who was silhouetted by the door and thus impossible for Menardi to make out. "She doesn't believe in dragging it out, my friend."

"That's unexpected," Alexander replied. "After all, she played her little game of cat-and-mouse to the hilt…"

One bony shoulder rolled about in a shrug, and Degas took Menardi's hand, pulling her to her feet. The ex-Pillar noted that she was in the dead center of the chalk circle. "Do you want to see Jean-Vic before we begin?"

"All right…"

Degas snapped his finger. "Hanzaki!"

The air blurred, and the Lycra-clad individual stepped into place. "Yes?"

"Get the jar," the man in black ordered him.

There was a blur in the air as Hanzaki disappeared, and then reappeared clutching a large glass jar; the outside was etched with multiple otherworldly symbols and markings. Inside it was a bizarre black gas, whirling and pulsing as if driven by unearthly anger.

"He's gone all cloudy again," Degas said, clenching one fist. "Give the jar a good shake, Hanzaki."

Hanzaki gave the jar a furious shake, and the gas settled, turning into a black ball of light. He stared at it with his red eyes, and the ball flattened itself on the bottom of the jar.

Menardi felt her stomach sink as she asked, "Is that…"

"Jean-Vic's soul," Degas said. "We have more use for it than he ever would. Look at it – it's black, through and through. He would be destined for a most unfortunate afterlife…" He then pushed his shades back up. "Hanzaki? Get the _other_ jar."

Once again, the air blurred twice as Hanzaki disappeared and returned, this time holding an empty jar with the same markings.

Before Menardi could even move, one of Degas's feet came down hard on her own foot, snapping her ankle from the force (she'd lost the metal on her bones along with the metal parts). She collapsed, twitching.

Alexander moved up to the chalk circle, and Menardi saw his face. She was about to gasp when he took a wad of cotton from his pocket and shoved it into her mouth.

The man in green groaned. "This is wrong even by our standards," he muttered.

"Suck it up. We need these to pay the price to have _him_ on our side."

"That doesn't help matters."

Hanzaki opened the jar and the chalk circle began to glow. Even though the wad of cotton, Menardi's scream echoed through the room.

**0000000**

In the Guthrie, Gerald, Chad, Laura, and Lucifer had all settled into place on the stage, and Gerald was finishing his recitation of his vision.

"So tell me this," Chad said when Gerald was done. "Did the Light have anything it could do _not_ to give Degas and Alexander a leg-up?"

Lucifer shook his head. "_Non,_" he said. "Ze Shadow Queen had to die – zat is a given. Ze world is much better off with her death. But it is a rule of ze Balance zat when one force of Darkness is destroyed, another is empowered. Otherwise ze Light is too powerful."

"Tell me why that's a bad thing?" Laura asked.

With a chuckle, the Beloved of Fire explained, "It may seem odd, but if ze Light were dominating, ze world would be fairly boring. Ze Light is too sterile, too straightforward – it does not allow ze shades of gray zat make ze world interesting. Zat is why ze Balance exists in the first place."

"So…" Gerald thought for a moment. "The Three Heroes killed the Shadow Queen, and that caused this mess. Why would my dealing with Degas and Alexander be any different?"

"You could call ze Balance's current state an overbalance," Lucifer said. "Ze Darkness gained too much power when ze Balance adjusted for ze death of ze Shadow Queen. When Degas and Alexander are defeated, zat will restore zings to zeir proper places… for now."

Gerald sighed. "For now… we can never win, can we?"

"An unfortunate fact of life, Monsieur Laxina."

**CYBER DISRUPTOR**

Type: Equip Magic Card

Image: A small blue box with wires trailing from it.

Effect: You may only equip this card to a monster with "Cyber" or "Cybernetic" in its name. The equipped monster's ATK increases by 500 points. When the equipped monster battles an opponent's monster, negate all effects on the opponent's monster.

**PURE MIGHT**

Type: Equip Magic Card

Image: Zombyra the Dark thrusting his fist skyward and letting out a battle cry. The air around him is filled with blue electricity.

Effect: You must discard one card from your hand in order to play this card. A monster equipped with this card gains 800 Attack Points. Negate all effects of a monster equipped with this card.

**TRUE FACE OF TERROR**

Type: Continuous Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A man in gold armor, wielding a spear, standing in the midst of a crowd of panicking, fleeing people.

Effect: When one of your opponent's monsters attacks a monster you control, that monster cannot attack again for a number of turns equal to half its Level Stars (rounded up). If an opponent's monster would attack you directly, destroy it. Each time you take damage to your Life Points, one bone in your body breaks.

**CYBERNETIC EMERGENCE**

Type: Quick-Play Magic Card

Image: A Cybernetic Cyclopean punching its way out of a glass tube.

Effect: You may only activate this card when you summon a monster with "Cyber" or "Cybernetic" in its name. Special Summon as many monsters with the same name as you can from your hand, deck, or Graveyard in face-up Attack Position. Your opponent must then choose one face-up monster on his or her field and Special Summon as many monsters with the same name as he or she can from the hand, deck, or Graveyard.

**MASTER OF CHAINS**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: FIRE/Warrior/Effect/Lv. 4/1600/1300

Image: A man with long blonde hair and a red bandana, clad in a t-shirt/jean vest combo and blue jeans, holding two sickles connected by a chain.

Effect: You cannot Normal Summon this monster from your hand unless you discard one card from your hand. This monster gains 100 Attack Points for each Warrior-type monster in your Graveyard.

**KANAN THE SWORDMISTRESS**

Image Effect: "Rally" – For each Warrior or Spellcaster-type monster you control, all face-up Warrior-type monsters you control gain 200 ATK points.

**CYBER PRIMA**  
Image Effect: "Spotlight" – During your Standby Phase, you may select one monster your opponent controls. During your opponent's turn, they may only attack or activate the effects of that monster. All other Monster Effects except of that monster are negated.

_Coming next chapter: A new phase of Degas and Alexander's plans has begun, and the first step is rather unorthodox. Chad must battle against a duelist who shouldn't be there – and the reason why is something of a kicker. Even less pleasant, this duelist uses cards Chad has no way of knowing about. Will this battle end with Chad giving a stiff shoulder to his opponent, or is this the end of Mr. Montemelier? Find out in Chapter Sixteen, "Fatal Fury"!_


	17. Fatal Fury

_Author's note: This chapter was originally written after the Enemy of Justice Destiny Heroes had English names, but before the Power of the Duelist ones were. For purposes of uniformity, I referred to all the Destiny Heroes by their original Japanese names. Now that the English names of all the Destiny Heroes are known... I'm still using the Japanese names, because their English names are downright horrible._

**_Ever since I was tall enough to reach the joysticks on an arcade cabinet, I've loved video games. To be honest, I only know a few people who don't. (Gerald isn't their biggest fan, but he plays against me every now and again.) Being a duelist as well, I couldn't resist asking myself the question: what decks would video game characters use?_**

**_Let's use an example most people would know: Mario, Nintendo's famous heroic plumber. I've seen other people try this one, and they usually try to build a joke deck that matches Duel Monster cards to elements from the games. But in my opinion, Mario is a hero who came from humble roots (after all, he _is_ a plumber) – I honestly think he would use the Level monsters._**

_**I used to think this would simply be a mental exercise, since I'd never have any proof. But now I'm battling one of the characters I've played that game with…**_

…**_and boy was I ever wrong!_**

**Chapter Sixteen: Fatal Fury**

As the sun set on the Twin Cities, an overhead view would show the streets flowing like a river. This was just an illusion, but one with its origins in a truth, a fairly unpleasant and terrifying truth.

The Darkness Infected, every last one of them, were on the move. They streamed towards several different destinations, although there was a fair amount of grumbling as they moved. They moved, regardless, as they didn't really have a choice.

As they moved, Hanzaki moved among them, blurring as he teleported from spot to spot. He held a megaphone in one hand, and was yelling orders every time he emerged from the blurs in the air. "Step lively, everyone! We all have our orders, and yours are to go into hiding! Como Zoo for some of you, the Ordway for the rest! Come along, now!"

Ducking a rock thrown at him, Hanzaki continued to shout through the megaphone, driving the mass of humanity along. However, this was only for the time being – once he was certain they could keep going without him, he blurred and vanished.

In front of the University of St. Thomas, the air blurred and Hanzaki stepped out again, looking for something. What he was looking for, he found under the arched entryway.

Ever since the loss of his mind, Caiside Bahn had not done well. He sat against the entryway, his pants ragged and his skin covered in various scrapes. He hadn't bathed in the past two days, and thus Hanzaki kept his distance. The strangest aspect of the situation was his endless babbling.

"Ten five fifteen… he controls this world… ten five fifteen… how could I not see it before?" The lunatic giggled to himself, sounding almost feminine. "Ten and five and fifteen… why do you make me hurt so?"

Rolling his eyes back in his head, Hanzaki approached Caiside, wondering why on earth his employers wanted to take him into custody. _Thank the Darkness I don't need to touch the fool,_ he thought.

Caiside turned his head to Hanzaki and said, "Did he ever answer the problem of the fourteenth?"

"Whatever," Hanzaki replied as both men blurred and vanished.

**0000000**

Somewhere else in St. Paul, within the lair of Degas and Alexander, the latter of the two was in the pillar chamber, standing before the third pillar (the northernmost). He ran his hands along the surface, looking quietly at it.

"Must we risk you?" he asked it, his hand tracing over where its face would be. "Of all the things we have amassed, must you, too, be gambled away?" He sighed, pressing his forehead to the pillar's front.

A low sound like someone clearing their throat caught Alexander's attention, and he pulled away from the pillar just in time to see Degas tapping his foot. The man in black adjusted his sunglasses, and then said, "For your sake, we'll hold off on using that one until we're low on options. For now, I need your assistance."

"Of what sort?"

"I have a trick I want to try on the Chosen of the Light and his companions before we call in a specialist, but… I need dark energy."

Alexander sighed, opening his shirt as the two men stepped through a series of doorways and emerged in a dimly-lit room. Throughout the room sat a series of tables and chairs, every one of which had a variety of books and scrolls scattered about. There was a shelf near the door, currently holding three jars with black balls of light trapped inside them.

Moving to the center of the room, Degas swept the table clean of everything except a black leather CD wallet. He then unzipped it and flipped it open, revealing a variety of video game CDs.

"Where did you get those?" Alexander asked.

"These, my friend, were among the possessions of the late Thomas 'Ogre' Grunn," Degas explained. "I don't have any of the requisite systems, but I do have a little trick I stole from the late Shadow Queen…"

The man in green sighed. "Does that spell even work on video games? It was designed to summon Duel Monsters spirits, after all."

"It took some modification," Degas replied. "In addition to switching it from Shadow Magic to operating off of dark energy, I had to switch its target to a video game, create a corporeal form for the summoned figure, grant it intelligence and sentience, provide it with a fitting deck and the knowledge to run it…"

"Then why did you even use that spell?" Alexander asked. "It sounds like you could create a spell from scratch with less effort than it took to alter that one."

"There you would be wrong. For all the work it took to make this spell work, it was still far easier than building a new summoning spell from the ground up would be. Better to build a car around the wheel than to reinvent it."

Accepting this answer, the man in green picked up the CD wallet and flipped through it, saying, "We have quite a few options here… what do you plan on calling up?"

"I have just the one," Degas said, stopping Alexander's hand on a specific page. He then hooked a finger through one of the CDs and lifted it out, holding onto it with care.

Alexander leaned forward, examining the CD. "Capcom vs. SNK 2…" He then took several steps back, asking, "You're not going to summon Rugal, are you?"

"The first rule of summoning is never to call forth anything that could be more powerful than you are," Degas replied. "I have a more… appropriate spirit in mind. Come here for a moment…"

With a sigh, Alexander stepped forward, holding his shirt open. One of Degas's hands pressed against his chest, and black energy crackled around it, making the Dark Conduit wince and stagger. A moment later, he fell back as Degas's hand withdrew, leaving a light black palm print.

Thus charged, Degas set the CD in the air, where it hovered as per his mental instructions. He crouched, setting one hand to the floor and drawing an arcane symbol with black lines of light.

With that done, he rose to his feet and extended his arms out at his sides, intoning, "_Omnu omni hasak tor…_"

He then drew his arms over his head, and with each word he spoke, a black rune burst into view on the edges of the symbol. "_Tier – Antorbok – Aretak – Pargon – Nocturne…_"

Alexander raised an arm in front of his eyes as the black lights grew blinding.

Black lightning danced on the edges of the symbol, a hazy outline of a man forming overhead. With one last inhalation, Degas shouted, "_Ah quan lahts reh tap soo! Ah quan lahts reh tap soo!_"

Five bolts of black lightning, one from each rune, struck the outline, and it became solid – a strong, unpleasant figure, hovering in the air over the CD. A smirk crossed its face, and it stared down at its summoner.

Degas stared back, and then lowered his sunglasses enough to make eye contact…

The figure shrank back, kneeling in midair.

_I don't ever want to know what that thing saw,_ Alexander thought to himself.

After a moment, Degas held up the CD. "Return to this disk until I call on you again."

The figure faded away, whereupon a black aura surrounded the CD. Taking a plastic slip from his pocket, Degas slid the game into it.

Alexander looked down at his chest, and sighed as the palm print faded away. "So when are we sending it after them?"

"I'll give them a good night's sleep first," Degas replied.

**0000000**

As it happened, although it was nearing 11:00 P.M., none of the three young people in question were asleep. Lucifer had left the group after they left the Guthrie, claiming he had to resume his search; Chad and Gerald had set out to retrieve some dry goods for breakfast (there were several mini-marts and bodegas that the Darkness Infection had missed, so they could get food); and Laura was flipping through the TV channels. Nothing good was ever on anymore, but she kept looking.

In the middle of an advertisement for Aquacure ("a new product from Umbrella", according to the ad copy), she slid off the bed and moved up to where Gerald had left his deck case. To her surprise, it was unlocked and open.

Despite every moral sense that told her she shouldn't be going through someone else's possessions, Laura opened the case and took out Gerald's deck. It only took a moment before she found the card she was looking for, sitting in the center of the deck.

"Heaven's Sphere," she whispered. "I wonder…" And she tried to pick it up.

She nearly dropped the rest of his cards when she succeeded. Despite Gerald's claims that nobody else could touch it, she was holding Heaven's Sphere.

And then the picture and the text on the card disappeared, leaving only its white border.

_Crap!_ Laura thought. _What did I just do?_

In seconds, a new picture began to form, and new text began to write itself…

But before the Heaven's Gift could finish the process, Laura heard footsteps in the hallway. Quickly, she slid the card back into the deck and the deck back into the case, dropping it where it had sat previously.

The door creaked open, and Gerald and Chad slid into the room, both carrying large grocery bags. "I think it's an allegory," Gerald was saying. "Maxwell is lashing out against relationships, represented by his girlfriend; education, represented by his teacher; and authority, represented by the judge."

"Believe what you want, Gerald," Chad replied, "but I still believe 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' is just about a serial killer with a really big hammer." He set his bag on the counter by the door.

**0000000**

Night rolled onward, and sleep came to those involved in the Twin Cities events.

Laura and Chad were fast asleep in their hotel room, curled up in their beds, while Gerald lay on the couch and stared up at the ceiling cracks. Giving up, he took his deck case, slid his deck out… and raised an eyebrow. _Some of these cards are upside down… who was looking at my deck?_ He glanced at Laura, and then shuffled through his deck, letting out a sigh of relief once it was clear all the cards were still there.

Elsewhere in Minneapolis, in an abandoned, cheap motel, Sol Kilkarn turned in for the night, wondering how Gerald and company were faring and whether he'd ever run into them.

In his home, Ulysses Cartnell couldn't sleep; even his mediation tricks didn't work. He poured himself a glass of scotch and sipped it, looking up at the moon._ In the name of the Light,_ he thought, _I regret I couldn't help the latest Chosen more than that. For now, all I can do is wishing him well._

**0000000**

Dawn came in due time, the sun's light reaching throughout the city of Minneapolis and its neighbor, the city of St. Paul. But the sun's light cannot reach some places, and one such place was the lair of Degas and Alexander.

The two men were currently seated in the viewing room, both in their proper chairs. Degas had his pretreated CD out, and the mirrors were focused on Gerald and party.

_Which spirit did we get? _Alexander wondered. Aloud, he said, "Now?"

"Give the Chosen and his friends a few moments to adjust to the situation," Degas said.

**0000000**

It was about 9 A.M. that morning when Laura asked the question on the minds of all three young people: "Where did everyone go?"

This was a fair question, as while they hadn't expected crowds of random people in a city with the Darkness Infection, they'd expected at least a handful of Infected. But there was _nobody_ here. The city was deserted; to make sure of it, they'd driven to the edge of the ruined area and checked one of the still-standing buildings. Nobody was in it.

"This makes little sense," Gerald said, leaning against the Corolla. He was in his typical gray shirt and gray jacket, but he'd run out of solid gray pants, and thus his current pair had blue stripes on the sides. "If they want to cut off my visions, removing my primary sources of Darkness works, but then how will they attack me?"

Laura placed her chin in her hand and said, "Something tells me they aren't going to use Darkness Infected anymore. After all, Jacob didn't have the Darkness Infection." She was back in the outfit she'd worn when they first met (having hit a Laundromat the previous night).

Adjusting his cuffs, Chad noted, "And Father Young wasn't an Infected either. We can assume they have a fair supply of 'normal' servants." Chad's outfit was one that made Gerald ask why he'd brought it. He was wearing a long-sleeved, button-up white shirt, a dark jacket (which cut off halfway down his abdomen) over that, and a pair of red leather pants that were connected by a belt at the knees. Dark dress shoes finished the ensemble.

"So we should be watching for an ambush." Tapping his foot, Gerald looked around. "This is not a good situation for my nerves."

"You don't _have_ nerves," Laura pointed out.

With a sigh, Gerald replied, "Okay, you have a point…"

**0000000**

Lifting the CD, Degas passed his hand over it, calling, "Come forward, spirit of the game, and take down the servants of Light."

The figure from the night before emerged, bowed to Degas, and then dove into the mirror array, vanishing from sight.

"So who did we summon?" Alexander asked, rubbing his chest with the heel of his palm.

Degas smiled. "There are two mid-bosses in that game, both of whom are powerful without being _too_ powerful. One of them is too crazy to duel well, but the other…"

**0000000**

Gerald was glancing into the ruined area when it happened. He lifted his head, blinked, and then asked, "Do you hear music?"

Laura looked up and said, "Yeah… where is it coming from?" She gestured to the car's radio, which was decidedly off.

There was a moment's pause, during which Chad shut his eyes and listened, before Gerald answered, "Nowhere."

Chad's eyes snapped open suddenly, and he declared, "I know that song… No way." He took a deep breath, and then continued, "That song… it's 'Geese ni Katakori'. I'd know it anywhere."

"Geese nee wha?" Laura asked.

Gerald replied, "'Geese ni Katakori', the theme song of the character Geese Howard from the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters fighting game series – the title means 'A Stiff Shoulder for Geese'. Chad is devoted to those games." He then paused before adding, "But where is it coming from?"

The answer came into view as an outline formed before them. The outline solidified, and then flashed into a human figure. It was a man in his late thirties, dressed in a white-and-red hakama, with slicked-back blonde hair, piercing eyes, and impressive muscles. He was wearing a luxury-model Duel Disk on one arm; there was already a deck in the deck slot.

After a moment to catch his breath, the newcomer looked over Gerald and his party. His gaze fell on Chad, and he pointed to him with a shout of, "You! Why are you dressed like Iori Yagami?"

"Such a good question," Gerald muttered.

After a moment to rearrange his own blonde hair into something less resembling a pompadour, Chad said, "I can't resist." He then stepped forward, shook his fist, and hissed, "_Geese!_"

The other man laughed, saying, "You need a sleeveless, fringed orange jacket for that to work, I'm afraid." With a wave of his hand, he added, "You seem to know me already, but I will still introduce myself. I am Geese Howard, crime lord of Southtown."

"This isn't Southtown, it's Minneapolis," Laura countered. "As such, I'm not impressed."

Lifting his hand, Geese cupped it and concentrated. A ball of violet energy appeared in it, and he whipped it at Laura, shouting, "Reppuken!"

With a yelp, Laura ducked, and the energy ball took out a window behind her.

Geese laughed again, saying, "I suppose you're impressed now… either way, I'm currently on duty for Degas and Alexander, so I'll have to save my other activities for later." He then turned serious, pointed to Chad again, and said, "I was sent here to duel one of you, and since you look like that fool Iori Yagami, I'll go against you."

"Fine," Chad said. "I've never lost to you in any of the King of Fighters games, and I don't think it'll change now." He activated his Duel Disk, striding into the center of the street.

With a growl, Geese activated his own Duel Disk. "I'll stain my hands… with your blood."

Both Life Point counters rose to 8,000, both duelists drew their opening hands, and the spectators moved to the side of the car, Gerald sitting on the hood.

_Excellent opening hand, _Geese thought. _But then, why wouldn't it be? After all, who are we talking about here?_ "I begin by summoning Destiny Hero Devilguy in Attack Mode!" he announced.

The skies briefly turned dark, and a truly unpleasant man floated down from them. He wore thick black armor, with a tattered red cape fluttering about his shoulders, and his face was concealed by a white mask. Long claws jutted off of his hands. (600/800)

"There's a set I've never heard of," Gerald said. "There were rumors that one of the designers at Industrial Illusions developed a dark version of the Elemental Heroes, but I thought they were canceled…"

Laura tilted her head. "Given that Geese isn't even human, who knows how that's supposed to work?"

**0000000**

"Here's a question I have," Alexander said to Degas as they watched the duel. "Why is Geese Howard, boss character and all-around rich, egotistical bastard, using a group of superheroes?"

Degas chuckled. "He sees himself as a master warrior, and the Destiny Heroes are a group of excellent fighters. In addition, they are a twisted, dark reflection of the Elemental Heroes – Geese was always the dark counterpart to Terry Bogard throughout the Fatal Fury series, making it fitting in that regard as well."

"But Gerald was right about those cards not existing that we know of… Where'd he _get_ them?"

"Those rules don't apply to spirits," Degas replied. "They come with the decks most suited to them. If Kaibaman dueled, he'd probably have the Blue Eyes White Dragons, even though there are only three 'real' ones. When you deal with magic, the rules change significantly."

**0000000**

"Next," the brawler continued, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

_Man, such a weak monster in Attack Mode? This has to be a trick, _Chad thought. _Sorry, but I'm not blind to the obvious, Mr. Howard._ "I set a monster in Defense Mode," Chad said, "set a card facedown, and call that my own turn."

Cracking his knuckles, Geese said, "It's time to get down to business, then. I summon Destiny Hero Diamondguy in Attack Mode!"

Once again, the skies turned dark, this time heralding the arrival of a man in black clothing. He was blonde, and wore a blue mask over his eyes. What truly made him stand out, however, were the diamond shards sticking out all over his body. (1,400/1,600)

"And now," Geese continued, "I invoke the effect of Destiny Hero Devilguy. Watch closely…"

The heavily armored hero raised his hands and shut his eyes. The air bent and warped around Chad's facedown monster, and then it vanished into nothingness.

"What did you just do?" Chad demanded.

The video game character laughed, placing one hand on his hip. "I sent your facedown monster two turns into the future," he replied. "It'll come back on my second Standby Phase after this one, but until then, it's removed from the game. Of course, doing that means I can't attack you until my next turn."

Diamondguy's shards began to light up, and the top card of Geese's deck slid out a ways.

"I hate not knowing how a set works," Gerald muttered. "What is _that_ card up to?"

"Diamondguy's effect is at work," Geese replied. "I take the top card off of my deck, and if it's a Normal Magic Card, I discard it. Its effect then activates on my next turn."

"Meaning it can't be countered, because the card's not there," Laura said.

Looking at his card, Geese revealed it to Chad. "Hammer Shot," he said, sliding it into his Graveyard. "Be wary what you summon, because it won't last past your next turn! Now that I'm done with that, I will end my turn."

_Whatever I summon will be destroyed on Geese's next turn… or so he thinks,_ Chad thought. He drew, looked to his card, and said, "I'll set a card facedown and summon Chiron the Mage in Attack Mode."

The armored, blonde centaur trotted into his proper place, orb-tipped staff at the ready. (1,800/1,000)

"Next," Chad continued, "I'll discard a Magic Card from my hand to invoke Chiron's effect, destroying one Magic or Trap Card on your field." Discarding his Invigoration, he called to the centaur, "Take out the left one!"

The Invigoration resonated within Chiron's staff, and he struck the tip against the ground. A wave of magical energy crackled around Geese's facedown card, shattering it…

…and then a small button appeared on the field and pressed itself. The street around Chad exploded, pelting him with debris and concealing him in a cloud of smoke. He coughed as his Life Points moved to 7,000.

Geese laughed, crossing his arms. "Only scum like you would fall for that! You destroyed a card called Kozaky's Self-Destruct Button, which takes off 1,000 of your Life Points if you destroy it. Care to make any more mistakes?"

Once the smoke cleared, Chad shook the dust out of his hair, dusting off his shirttails as well. "No… I think I'll just take your heroes apart. Chiron, attack Destiny Hero Devilguy."

The head of the staff glowed with energy, and Chiron concentrated. After a moment, as the staff's head crackled with force, he threw it at the Destiny Hero.

Suddenly, the street around Devilguy exploded, and the hero dropped to one knee, catching the attack on the floating rubble. The force dissipated harmlessly on contact with the concrete, which continued to hover around him.

"Ummm… what just happened?" Gerald asked.

In reply, Geese gestured to his activated trap. "My trap card, D-Shield, is what happened. I can trigger it when a Destiny Hero is under attack – in exchange, my monster switches to Defense Mode and becomes impossible to destroy n battle. What's more, the trap becomes an equipping card on him, so you can't dispose of Devilguy that easily."

"If that's so, then I'll end my turn," Chad continued, shaking his head.

Geese drew, and then pointed at Chiron the Mage. "Now my Hammer Shot's effect activates, as per the powers of Destiny Hero Diamondguy! Crush the centaur, Hammer Shot!"

There was a whistling noise as a giant hammer fell from above, heading towards Chiron at an ever-increasing speed until it hit terminal velocity…

"Activate Beast Soul Swap!" Chad declared. "I'll return Chiron the Mage to my hand and Special Summon the Berserk Gorilla in Attack Mode, making your Hammer Shot useless!"

The hammer struck nothing but air on impact, as Chiron vanished just before it hit the ground. As the hammer disappeared, the raging gorilla appeared on Chad's field, beating its chest and snorting fire. (2,000/1,000)

A vein throbbed in Geese's forehead. "You little… In that case, I'll set one monster in Defense Mode, and then activate the effect of Diamondguy again."

The top card of Geese's deck slid out, and he glanced at it. "A trap? Damn it!" He shuffled the card back into his deck and clenched his fist. "I'm running out of options, so I'll activate the effect of my Destiny Hero Daggerguy."

"What Daggerguy?" Laura asked. "You don't have any monsters like that in play."

In reply, Geese turned around one of the cards in his hand, showing a blindfolded man in gray armor with sharp blades on the ends of his arms. "This is Daggerguy; his effect works when I discard him from my hand. He can boost any other Destiny Hero's Attack Points by 800 until the turn ends, so… Daggerguy, I'll give you up to empower Diamondguy!"

The blindfolded warrior appeared alongside Diamondguy, and both heroes posed for a moment, an aura surrounding them. (1,400/1,600 – 2,200/1,600)

_Come and get me… _Chad thought.

"Destiny Hero Diamondguy," Geese ordered, "dispose of the Berserk Gorilla with Destiny Diamond Slash!"

A long, thin shard of diamond appeared in the Destiny Hero's hand, and he began to spin, shining dust following his cape as it swept along the ground. Soon, this dust gathered around his weapon hand, which shone quite brightly in the sunlight. With one lunge, Diamondguy buried the diamond shard in the Berserk Gorilla's chest, and it collapsed to the ground before him.

Chad's Life Points dipped to 6,800, but he didn't seem to notice as he set off his facedown card. "ActivateAnimal Trail," he said, "which lets me search my deck for another Beast-type monster and add it to my hand when one is destroyed. Let's see…" He picked one out and slid it into his hand. "That should do it."

"You are truly beginning to irritate me," Geese growled. "And I'm not the sort of person you want to irritate! I'll end my turn with one card facedown." Diamondguy's Attack Points went back to normal as the facedown card appeared.

As Chad drew, he thought, _On Geese's next Standby Phase, I'll get back the monster that Devilguy sent away. When that's done, I'll be able to make good use of that Beast Trail, and then he's done for. _"I summon Chiron the Mage again," Chad began.

Once again, the armored centaur appeared, spinning his staff around his body and posing. (1,800/1,000)

"Next," Chad continued, "I'll do away with the D-Shield by discarding my Poison Fangs. Chiron, make Devilguy vulnerable!"

The Poison Fangs resonated in the head of Chiron's staff, and he tapped the point against the ground. A wave of energy hopped from rubble to rubble, destroying Devilguy's shield.

Chad gestured towards Devilguy. "Chiron, attack Destiny Hero Devilguy again and finish the job!"

This time, nothing interrupted the process as Chiron charged up his magic and launched it at Devilguy. There was an explosion as the magic and the evil-tainted superhero collided, and the Destiny Hero Devilguy was wiped out when the magic won.

Geese, however, merely pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Destiny Signal!" he announced. "When one of the Destiny Heroes is destroyed in battle, this trap lets me call another one of Level Four or less from my hand or deck."

Gerald tilted his head, noting, "So it's the Destiny Hero version of Hero Signal."

"Basically," Laura replied.

"Silence, bacteria!" Geese hissed at them. "As I was about to say, I'll Special Summon Destiny Hero Defendguy in Defense Mode!"

A man made entirely from very blocky sections of stone appeared on Geese's field, the only signs of any life being some purple bands on its limbs and a yellow grate on its face. It knelt, covering its torso with its arms. (100/2,700)

"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn on that," Chad said.

After studying Defendguy for a moment, Gerald said, "I wonder what that thing's drawback is. It has to have one with Defense Points like that."

"I think we'll see," Laura said. "Unless it's just broken."

Geese drew, noting as he did so, "The effect of my late Devilguy triggers now – your monster I sent away earlier returns to the game."

The air warped around Chad, and his facedown monster came back into being. _Now I can make good use of it,_ he thought.

"Now," Geese continued, holding up his latest draw, "I play the Magic Card known as Vase of Unholy Blight. By removing a Dark-attributed monster in my deck from the game, I may draw three cards. So I'll just ditch my Mystic Tomato…" An ugly tomato appeared briefly behind him and then vanished. "…and draw my three cards!"

A black, twisted vase appeared in front of Geese. He held one hand in front of him and concentrated. A purple ball of aura appeared for just a moment before he threw it, shouting, "Reppuken!" His attack shattered the vase, and three cards leapt into his hand.

Chad, Gerald, and Laura all raised an eyebrow. "Impressive," Chad said.

"And if you were really Iori Yagami instead of just dressing like it, you could do the same thing," Geese replied. He studied his cards for a moment, and then said, "Now, this arena is boring me, so we're going to pay a visit to the Clocktower Prison!"

Most of the field cards Gerald and company knew about simply rose from the ground. This one, however, worked differently.

As Geese played it, a dense fog surrounded them all, causing Laura to shiver (in the back of Gerald's head, he noted that this was why he always wore a jacket). Parts of the fog were thin, allowing those inside to glimpse parts of a large structure. In due time, the fog faded away, revealing that they were now in a courtyard in the center of a large building complex. Behind Geese rose a tremendous clocktower, both hands on the face currently pointing at 12.

"So… what does it do?" Chad asked.

"You'll find out in four turns," Geese replied. "Now, as for the rest of my turn… I activate the effect of Destiny Hero Diamondguy. Let's see what's on top of my deck, shall we?"

Taking the top card of his deck, Geese looked at it and then smiled. "Driving Destiny! Just what I was hoping to see…" He slid the card into his Graveyard before continuing, "With that done, I'll sacrifice my facedown Sangan to summon Destiny Hero Doubleguy in Attack Mode!"

The ugly three-eyed furball exploded in a cloud of hair, replaced by a credible impersonator of Claude Rains circa _The Invisible Man._ He wore a black hat, black coat, black pants, black shoes, and a black scarf. There was not a visible piece of skin on his entire body. (1,000/1,000)

"Is there a person in that outfit?" Laura asked.

Geese shrugged. "Of sorts. Before I forget…" He took his deck from his Duel Disk and searched through it, claiming one specific monster. "Sangan's effect lets me pick up a monster with less than 1,500 Attack Points."

"And that's most of the Destiny Hero gang, isn't it?" Chad replied.

The video game character merely nodded, continuing, "Now, I know Doubleguy can't actually harm your monsters, but I have a way around that. It's called Secret Path to the Treasures!" He played the card in question, and a white door opened in the air in front of Doubleguy.

With a groan, Gerald said, "That lets any one monster he wants that has 1,000 or fewer Attack Points attack directly this turn."

"And because of Doubleguy's special ability, he can do that twice!" Geese added. "Doubleguy, get him with Destiny Double Blade!"

Two thin knives popped out of Doubleguy's sleeves, and the heavily-clothed man sprang over Chad's monsters…

…only to compress against an invisible wall as Chad declared, "I activate my Negate Attack!" The hero fell to the ground, limping back to Geese's field.

Distinctly unimpressed, Geese said, "I'll end my turn on that, then."

Chad drew, whereupon the hands of the Clocktower Prison spun and settled at 3 o'clock.

"During each of your Standby Phases, Clocktower Prison moves three hours forward. Don't ask what happens at midnight," Geese said. "And while we're on the subject of your Standby Phase, you now get a card from my Defendguy's effect."

The kneeling Destiny Hero glowed, and Chad drew a card.

The artist merely grinned, saying, "It's time to give your Destiny Heroes a bitter fate. I tribute my Chiron the Mage and facedown Mad Dog of Darkness to summon Behemoth the King of All Animals in Attack Mode!"

Chiron bowed, the Mad Dog of Darkness howled to the skies, and both monsters disappeared. In their place emerged the gigantic lord of beasts, his pinkish hide and purple fur darkened by the shadow of the clocktower. (2,700/1,500)

"As per his effect," Chad continued, "I'll return two Beast-type monsters to my hand." He took back Berserk Gorilla and the Mad Dog of Darkness. "And now, Behemoth, dispose of Doubleguy!"

With a mighty roar, unlike any the world had known, the king of all animals slammed one paw hard on the Destiny Hero Doubleguy, crushing him underfoot. The vibrations knocked Geese down, and he held onto his head, his Life Points kicked to 6,300.

As Behemoth's foot lifted off of what was left of Doubleguy, a pile of clothes were revealed as all that was left.

Chad put a card into his disk. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn, then," he said.

The video game character drew, tucking the card into his hand.

The pile of clothes steamed for a moment, and then they exploded, becoming two monstrous men with green skin and wild blue hair, clad in prisoner's outfits. (1,000/1,000)

"Doubleguy is something of a Jekyll and Hyde," Geese explained. "By killing him, you've unleashed his alternate selves – these two Doubleguy tokens, in Attack Mode."

Chad rolled his eyes. "I knew it…"

"My Driving Destiny Magic Card activates now, as per Diamondguy's effect. It lets me Special Summon a Destiny Heroof Level Four or less if I have at least three monsterson the field, and I have plenty. So come forth from my hand, Destiny Hero Diehardguy!"

An angry, redheaded man with massive black shells on his forearms burned onto Geese's field, thumping his chest. (800/800)

"Speaking of Diamondguy…" Geese took the top card of his deck, glanced at it, and laughed, holding it up. "I'm the luckiest bastard alive – Pot of Greed!" He slid it into his Graveyard.

_Of course. Chad's screwed,_ Laura thought.

"Scum like you should know your place, and I'm about to teach it to you!" Geese declared. "I offer one of the Doubleguy tokens as a tribute to summon Destiny Hero Dashguy!"

One of the tokens vanished, and a figure ran along the top of the clocktower, leaping skyward. It landed hard in front of Geese, revealing itself as a black metal robot, with a teardrop-shaped head and two shining headlights on its shoulders. There were wheels on its ankles.(2,100/1,000)

"They just keep getting weirder," Laura noted. "Why is a fighting game boss playing these guys, anyway?"

"Two words: sheer power!" Geese replied. "Now I'll invoke Dashguy's effect – by giving up one of my other monsters on the field, I can increase his Attack Points by 1,000 until my turn ends. So I'll give up my other Doubleguy token!"

Dashguy suddenly turned and cranked up its headlights to a level of brightness so high that Chad, Gerald, and Laura all looked away. Once the light faded, the other Doubleguy token was a pile of ash, and the Destiny Hero revved up, its power heightened. (2,100/1,000 – 3,100/1,000)

"Dashguy," Geese ordered, "bring Behemoth's reign to an end with Destiny Dash Overdrive!"

After revving a moment more, the robot burned forward and leapt into the air, executing a spiraling kick before coming down for a soft landing. Nothing seemed to happen at first… and then Behemoth's head slid off of his neck and struck the ground with a thud.

Laura retched, causing Gerald to turn and check on her even as he flinched. Chad's jaw dropped, and his Life Points sank to 6,400.

In the center of the carnage, Geese seemed unmoved. "You should see what Rugal Bernstein does to people," he said. "It makes this seem like a kid's parade."

Shaking his head, Chad activated his trap, declaring, "Since I took damage to my Life Points, I activate Numinous Healer, raising my Life Points by 1,000."

The angelic nurse appeared before him, giving a little gasp at Behemoth's shattering corpse, before stroking his cheek in an attempt to comfort him. "Thanks," the artist said as his Life Points rose to 7,400.

"That comfort only extends so far," Geese pointed out. "You have nothing, and I have two monsters in Attack Mode. Destiny Hero Diamondguy, attack directly with Destiny Diamond Slash!"

Once again, the diamond dust gathered around Diamondguy's shard, but this time he lunged forward and buried it in Chad's stomach, causing him to groan as his Life Points descended to 6,400.

"And now, Diehardguy," the video game character continued, "bring him down with Destiny Diehard Crash!"

With a cry of rage, Diehardguy rolled forward and sprang over Chad's head, knocking him to the ground with both of the shells on his arms. His Life Points clicked down to 5,600.

"One card facedown will conclude this turn," Geese noted, "and as per its effect, Dashguy switches into Defense Mode." The robot powered down and knelt alongside Defendguy.

_Thank Heaven for small favors,_ Chad thought. He drew, and then Defendguy glowed, giving him another card. He studied his hand, even as the clocktower's hands spun, settling on 6 o'clock.

_Destroy anything you like, Chad, _Geese thought. _It won't help. You're just like the Bogard boys – even when nothing works, you'll still keep trying. Some call that persistence; that's a fancy name for stubbornness._

"I summon Berserk Gorilla again," Chad said.

Once again, the enraged gorilla emerged on the field, pounding his chest. (2,000/1,000)

"Berserk Gorilla," the artist ordered, "bring down Destiny Hero Diamondguy!"

The gorilla charged forward and grabbed Diamondguy's shirt front, hefting him into the air. He slammed the diamond-studded hero against the ground repeatedly, shaking himlike a rag doll until he finally shattered.

Geese merely smirked, arms crossed, as his Life Points dropped to 4,700.

"I set a card facedown," Chad concluded, "and end my turn."

With a nod, Geese drew. A gear suddenly appeared on his field, rotating rapidly, as Diehardguy concentrated.

"What the hell?" Laura asked.

"That would be a gear of destiny," Geese explained. "During my Standby Phase, Diehardguy can bring back any one monster that was destroyed in battle on the previous turn. So Diamondguy will now return!"

The gear flashed, and suddenly the diamond-studded superhero resumed his place on Geese's field. (1,400/1,600)

"Speaking of Diamondguy…" The Pot of Greed appeared on his field, and the boss drew two cards. "Now I'll set a card facedown and play the Magic Card Raregold Armor on Defendguy."

The oversized stone hero shimmered, and then a thin layer of gold leaf covered his body.

Holding his head in one hand, Gerald muttered, "Now it's the only monster Chad can attack. And thanks to Berserk Gorilla, he's going to get hurt next turn…"

"Indeed," Geese continued. "Now, I'll invoke Diamondguy's power…" He took the top card of his deck, frowned, and showed it to Chad. It was a monster, but Chad didn't recognize it. "Not what I was hoping for." He shuffled it back into his deck, finishing, "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn on that."

Chad drew, the Defendguy once again handing him another card. _I could deck out at this rate,_ he thought.

The Clocktower Prison's hands moved ever closer to the top, stopping at 9 o'clock.

As he looked at his cards, Chad smiled, thinking, _Time to bring an end to this set-up._ "I start by summoning the Enraged Battle Ox in Attack Mode!" he declared.

A minotaur in helmet and breastplate emerged, swinging an axe around and snorting. He glared at the Berserk Gorilla. (1,700/1,000)

"In response to _that,_" Geese replied, "I activate my trap, Pyro Clock of Destiny! This advances the turn count on any card that cares by one turn… and adds that last time counter to Clocktower Prison, as well…"

A sundial appeared before Geese, the shadow on it moving as if the sun were passing overhead (there was no way to tell if it was, as Clocktower Prison's hologram blocked out the sunlight). The hands on the clock face reached 12 o'clock, and a bell rang twelve times, the massive sound briefly drowning out any chance to converse.

"It's the hour of midnight," Geese said when the sound died. "The witching hour… the hour of dread. You'll see what I mean in due time. Continue your move."

After a quick gulp, Chad shook his head and continued, "Now I'll play the Magic Card known as Wild Nature's Release. This lets me add the Defense Points of a Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged-Beast monster to its Attack Points at the cost of its demise when the turn ends. I'll do that to my Berserk Gorilla!"

The Berserk Gorilla grew even angrier than usual, thrashing his chest with his fists hard enough to bleed. (2,000/1,000 – 3,000/1,000)

"Berserk Gorilla, attack Destiny Hero Defendguy!" Chad ordered. "Due to my Enraged Battle Ox, you'll still take damage even through Defense Mode!"

Geese merely smirked.

The primate sprang forward, picking up the Defendguy as if he were made of paper and throwing him into the front of the Clocktower Prison. The hero shattered into a thousand pieces on impact, the stone fragments raining down on Geese…

…and never actually touching him, instead suspending themselves in midair. He charged up a Reppuken, threw it over his head, and reduced them to a rain of pebbles.

Chad stammered for a moment before saying, "Why didn't you take any damage?"

"There are four time counters on the Clocktower Prison," Geese replied. "As long as that's true, I don't take any battle damage. At all. So keep attacking me if it makes you feel better, but it won't work."

_Argh! Even as a DUELIST he has SNK Boss Syndrome!_ Chad thought. "Fine, then. I'll just kill your recursion – Enraged Battle Ox, take out Diehardguy."

The minotaur charged into the fray, slashing the Destiny Hero into two parts with one sweep of his axe. As before, Geese didn't even flinch.

"I'll set this facedown," Chad continued, "and end my turn." As he said it, the Berserk Gorilla exploded in a ball of flames from Wild Nature's Release.

As Geese drew, he arched an eyebrow. "The Clocktower Prison has another secret, Chad," he began, "but it requires me to destroy the building to activate it. I have my ways, however."

"Emergency Provisions?" Gerald wondered.

"Nothing so generic. To put it another way…" The boss grinned. "My Power Gauge is at max."

Chad's eyes went wide. "Gerald, Laura, brace yourself!" he ordered. The two swiftly moved behind the nearest immovable object.

"Wise." Geese set his card on the Duel Disk, raised his arms, and yelled, "**_RAGING STORM!_**"

He slammed his hands into the ground before him, and blue tongues of energy sprang up all around. The energy began to spin, forming what could be considered an energy hurricane; the sheer force threw Chad several feet away, although he managed to hold onto his cards. The street churned and buckled about them.

Most important, however, was what happened to the clocktower. The Raging Storm quite simply shattered the building, from base to roof, shattering the clock face as it did so. The rest of the building exploded, piece by piece, laying waste to the Clocktower Prison. At the same time, Destiny Hero Diamondguy, unable to move fast enough, burned to ashes as the Raging Storm consumed him.

Finally, several tongues of energy shot up around Chad, slamming into him repeatedly and charring him as he yelled. His Life Points plunged to 3,600.

When the attack finally came to a halt, there was so much dust and smoke that none of the onlookers could see Geese's field. They could, however, hear him as he said, "In card form, Raging Storm requires me to destroy a Field Magic card I control and tribute a monster on my field. In exchange, you take damage equal to 500 points times the monster's Level Stars."

"You could have dealt me even more damage if you'd tributed Dashguy," Chad noted. "Why did you get rid of Diamondguy instead?"

"Because I don't want this duel to end just yet," the boss replied. He could now be seen as a dark form in the smoke, and an even larger form was behind him. "You see, we all know this field was called Clocktower Prison. Care to meet the inmate?"

"Not as such, no."

Geese shrugged and said, "Too bad." A gust of wind cleared out the obscuring smoke…

Standing behind Geese was a gigantic mountain of a man, looking scarily like Ogre Grunn. He wore a mask that looked less like it was made that way and more like he'd bent steel bars into place around his head; in addition, there were manacles with broken chains hanging from them on his wrists. He flexed, and it was like mountains shattering when he did so. (?)

"This," Geese said, "is Destiny Hero Dreadguy. And he's going to make what's left of your life very miserable. You see, when the Clocktower Prison is destroyed, I can Special Summon him from my hand or deck – the latter in this case. What's more, when I spring him from the Prison, I can Special Summon two Destiny Heroes from my Graveyard."

Dreadguy thrust his arms into the air and called out in a loud, clear voice. Two chains sprang up, wrapped around Destiny Hero Diamondguy and Destiny Hero Devilguy. Said chains shattered, releasing both heroes, and they stretched out on returning to life. (1,400/1,600) (600/800)

"As for his statistics," Geese carried on, interrupting Chad before he could ask the same question, "he has Attack and Defense points equal to the combined original Attack Points of all my Destiny Heroes. That's 4,100!"

Dashguy, Diamondguy, and Devilguy all bowed to Dreadguy, who cracked his knuckles and emitted a hollow laugh. (? – 4,100/4,100)

Gerald blinked, whispering, "They're more deadly than the Elemental Heroes…"

"And a lot simpler," Laura noted. "They don't have all the fusions to worry about that the Elemental Heroes do."

"Now I'll use Diamondguy's effect…" Geese looked at the top card of his deck and smirked. "Well, well – Graceful Charity!" He slid it into his Graveyard and concluded, "I'm not going to risk that stupid trap of yours, so I'll end my turn with a card facedown."

_Even with an extra turn, I'm still in trouble! _Chad thought. He drew a card (missing the freebies Defendguy had used to cough up) and looked his options over. "I play my own Pot of Greed," he began.

"So how does it feel to be ruled by overwhelming power?" Geese asked as Chad drew.

"Don't know – never felt it." The artist looked at his choices, and then said, "I'll set a monster in Defense Mode, switch my Enraged Battle Ox to Defense Mode, and end my turn."

Geese drew, and then the angel of Graceful Charity descended as Diamondguy's effect resolved. He drew three more cards before quickly selecting two and tossing them to the angel.

"That's the fastest I've ever seen anyone pick their discard," Gerald noted. "He must have a plan."

The video game boss nodded to Gerald, saying, "You're correct on that note. You see, the Destiny Heroes have two legends in their ranks. One is Dreadguy and the other… I just drew him."

"I don't think I want to watch this," Laura muttered.

"To summon this monster, I must offer three Destiny Heroes," Geese continued. "Dashguy! Diamondguy! Devilguy! I send you all to the Graveyard in order to call forth Destiny Hero Dogmaguy!"

Three beams of light emerged from the destroyed street, engulfing the three targeted Destiny Heroes. They each shattered into a thousand pieces, the pieces drawing together and forming the outline of another creature. This outline soon filled, becoming an almost devilish figure – clad in black and brown armor, it possessed gigantic leathery wings. (3,400/2,400)

As it settled on the field next to Dreadguy, the two Destiny Heroes acknowledged each other, and there was a passing of auras to adjust for the loss of the other Destiny Heroes. (? – 3,400/3,400)

"Destiny Hero Dogmaguy," Geese declared, "attack the Enraged Battle Ox with Destiny Dogma Cleaver!"

The diabolic Destiny Hero rose overhead, raising a massive blade to slice through the minotaur.

"I activate Sakuretsu Armor," Chad replied, "letting me destroy your Destiny Hero Dogmaguy…"

"Unless I do this!" Geese interrupted, activating his facedown card. "My Trap Card, Trap Jammer, negates and destroys your armor!"

A shining armor briefly appeared around the Enraged Battle Ox… but only for a moment before it turned black and shattered to pieces. Seconds later, Dogmaguy's blade slashed through the minotaur, dividing it cleanly in half. The halves fell away and shattered independently.

"Now, Dreadguy," Geese ordered, "attack his facedown monster with Destiny Dread Crush!"

Leaping through the air, Dreadguy landed directly in front of Chad's facedown monster and brought one fist down hard, smashing his Soul Tiger (0/2,100) to pieces before storming back to Geese's field.

"This card facedown will be the end of my turn," the boss said, the card appearing as he said it.

Taking a deep breath, Chad drew…

…whereupon Dogmaguy charged forward and slashed him through the waist. For a brief, terrifying moment, Chad couldn't feel his legs, and then they came back to him.

"What was that about?" Laura asked.

"Dogmaguy's special ability," Geese answered. "On the opponent's Standby Phase after it's summoned, they lose half their Life Points."

Chad's brow beaded with sweat as he glanced to his Life Points, which had ticked down to 1,800. _Last chance,_ he thought, wiping the sweat off of his brow and wringing out his collar. "I play Card of Sanctity, letting us both draw our hands up to six cards!"

Both men drew, Chad noting how thin his deck was getting. _Between Defendguy and my other drawing engines, this might be the first time I risk getting decked out… of course, at this rate, that's the **least** of my concerns._ He fanned out his cards and instantly had a solution. "All right, Geese… I play Polymerization, fusing together Big Koala and The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion to create the Master of Oz!"

The two monsters briefly appeared on Chad's field, the Hex-Sealed Fusion morphing into a credible impersonation of Des Kangaroo, before mixing together into one monster. The result was the giant koala/kangaroo half-breed with purple vest and boxing gloves. It took a few practice jabs, the rush of air around its gloves blowing Geese's hakama around. (4,200/3,700)

"Impressive," Geese said. "Perhaps I misjudged you when I compared you to those fool Bogards."

Chad blinked, thinking, _Did he just compliment me?_ "It's not done, Geese," he continued. "Since that was a Special Summon, I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode."

The blind, snarling dog appeared on Chad's field, jaws snapping as it searched for prey. (1,900/1,400)

"And finally," the artist concluded, "I'll use a second Wild Nature's Release, this time on my Master of Oz!"

As its muscles bulged, the massive boxing creature slammed its fist into the street, leaving yet _another_ crater in its wake. (4,200/3,700 – 7,900/3,700)

"If he does this right," Gerald noted, "the duel's over."

Laura paused, and then asked, "Do you feel like yawning?"

The lazy man's eyes narrowed. "Oddly enough, no."

Chad took a breath, and then ordered, "Master of Oz, attack Destiny Hero Dogmaguy with Ayer's Rock Haymaker!"

The boxing beast dove forward and delivered one massive right hook to Dogmaguy. Try as it might, the hero went flying off into the distance, to never be seen again. Geese's Life Points dove down to 200.

"Without any other Destiny Heroes," the video game boss noted, "my Dreadguy's Attack Points are nothing." And so Dreadguy slouched, muscles shriveling. (? – 0/0)

"Mad Dog of Darkness, finish him!" Chad ordered.

The dog dove forward… and chipped all of its teeth on a piece of rubble. The shattered pieces of the street pulled in around the kneeling Dreadguy, forming a shield.

"You tripped my D-Shield trap, I'm afraid," Geese explained. "You remember it, so I won't bother going into details."

_Ah, crap,_ Chad thought. "I'll end my turn." The Master of Oz raised his fists in victory and disappeared.

Geese drew, studying his seven-card hand, and then said, "Unfortunately, I don't have the cards to bring this duel to a conclusion on this turn, but I do have enough to make you suffer. I'll set two cards facedown and sacrifice Dreadguy to bring out another Dashguy."

The muscled hero vanished, replaced by another of the swift, sharp-edged robots. (2,100/1,000)

"Dashguy," Geese ordered, "Destiny Dash Overdrive that mutt!"

For a moment, Dashguy was a blur, moving at the speed of sound and cleaving the Mad Dog of Darkness in half with one sweeping kick. Chad moaned as his Life Points reached 1,600.

As his monster switched to Defense Mode, Geese concluded, "That's my turn."

_He'll destroy Dashguy on this turn,_ Geese thought, _which isn't going to be a problem. My Destiny Signal will bring out another Diamondguy, and then I'll use Call of the Haunted to restore my Dashguy. After that, I'll find a way to bring back Dreadguy, and he'll have 3,500 Attack Points – nothing Chad can summon without a tribute can withstand that, and then the duel will be mine!_

Chad drew, and Gerald suddenly yawned off on the sidelines. Glancing to his friend, Chad looked at his card before asking Geese, "I have to know – are you okay?"

"Hmmm?"

"Let me repeat that… are you okay?" The artist smirked, thinking, _I'm not dressed right for this, but I can't resist._

There was a pause, and then Geese took a step back. "That can't be…"

Chad tossed the card onto his disk, jumped forward, and jammed his feet into the ground with a cry of, "**_Buster Wolf!_**"

A tremendous wave of energy burst from Chad's outstretched fist, blasting a stunned Geese to the ground. He bounced twice, his Duel Disk's straps snapping and the disk rolling away even as his Life Points sank to zero. Chad's own Life Points were down to 700, but that was moot.

"How… you're not Bogard. How did you do that?" Geese moaned.

"I'm curious about that myself," Laura asked, even as Gerald was asleep next to her.

Chad took his card off the Duel Disk and held it up, showing its artwork – a shimmering blue wolf. "This is the Buster Wolf, a Level Four Beast with 1,800 Attack Points and no Defense Points," he explained. "I can tribute it to deal its Attack Points as Direct Damage to my opponent, but I'll take half that amount myself. Kind of like the Exiled Force."

Geese tried to get up, but he was already beginning to turn transparent. "Well… can't say I expected this…" With a groan, he collapsed and turned into darkness, which dissipated into the air like a thin gas.

From the sidelines, Laura thought, _I always preferred Tekken, myself, but that was still an impressive fight._

**0000000**

"What was the difficulty setting on that game?" Alexander asked as they saw the duel's conclusion. "I think you should have upped it by a couple of stars."

"Maybe we should have sent M. Bison after all," Degas replied. "Either way, we now have proof that the spell works and that it creates worthwhile duelists. We may have to go back to that later… but for now, it's time to call in the specialists."

Both men rose from their chairs, walked around them, and headed back to the phone. Picking up the receiver, Alexander hit one of the buttons on the speed dial and handed it to Degas.

The man in black muttered, "I _really_ hate giving orders to a mute by phone…" After a moment, he said, "Sentinel, press one if you're there." He paused. "Good. Now, listen carefully. I want you to go to… just a second…" He covered the mouthpiece, saying, "They're probably going to move…"

But Alexander wasn't paying attention. He stiffened, staring straight ahead, and then said, "Send them to Saint Anthony Park."

"Is this what your insane prophet told you?" Degas said, a hint of disgust in his voice. "I still can't believe we're keeping him."

"I just know that Gerald will be there. If he's anything like I know he is, he will be in Saint Anthony Park."

After a moment, Degas said, "I'm holding you to that." He then said into the phone, "Press one if you're still there… All right. Sentinel, you are to go to Saint Anthony Park and engage Gerald in a duel. Trust us, he will be there. Press three if you have no objections… Very good. Get to it." He hung up, telling Alexander, "You had better be right."

"I know I am," the man in green said.

**0000000**

After Geese's defeat, the three were seated on the ground next to the Corolla, contemplating the situation (Gerald having woken up).

"So they aren't limited to real people anymore," Chad noted. "That means the pool of servants to the Darkness is larger than we calculated. We'd be in trouble if they sent, say, Sephiroth after us."

"The Light help us if we get to that," Gerald said. He then thought, _Wait, did I just say "the Light" as an oath?_

Tapping her fingers on the wrecked street, Laura said, "That's all well and good, but what do we do now? We need those visions to get us anywhere, and we can't just sit here and wait for the Darkness to send its assassins after us…"

There was a pause, and then Gerald raised his head with a start, as if hearing a noise no one else could. He then stood up, saying, "We must go to Saint Anthony Park."

"Hmmm?" Chad asked as he and Laura stood up, dusting off.

"Do not ask me why, but it is imperative we go to Saint Anthony Park."

Chad and Laura looked to each other, and she said, "It's a start, if nothing else."

The group climbed into the Corolla, and it drove off towards St. Paul again.

**0000000**

In the Saint Anthony Park district of St. Paul, a man wandered through the streets, merely admiring his surroundings. "Such a beautiful day," he said to himself. "After what happened at 3M, I needed a beautiful sight…"

Lucifer Allumette happened to be passing the man on the other side of the street. He paused, looked to him, and then said, "Monsieur, would you happen to know Gerald Laxina?"

The other man blinked and replied, "Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Just a moment…" Turning his back, Lucifer raised his left hand and whispered, "Ring of Identities, tell me who zis man is…" He waited for the information, and then jumped slightly, taken aback.

Turning back to the man, Lucifer bowed, saying, "My apologies. I did not know who you were."

"And you do now?" the man said. "What's going on around here, anyway?"

"I will explain, but first…" Lucifer took a photograph from his pocket. "Have you seen ze subject of zis picture?"

The man took the picture, studied it for a moment, and answered, "I'm afraid not."

"_Ah, rien!_"

**ANIMAL TRAIL**

Type: Normal Trap Card

Image: A trail of animal footprints leading into tall grass on a forest's edge.

Effect: You may activate this card when a monster you control is destroyed in battle. Search your deck for a Beast-type monster and add it to your hand.

_Note: This card was used by Chumley in the GX episode "Magna Chum Laude". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**VASE OF UNHOLY BLIGHT**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A wicked-looking version of the Pot of Greed.

Effect: Remove one DARK-type monster in your deck from the game. Draw three cards.

_Note: This card first appeared in King Dragun's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Sister of Anansi". All creative credit goes to him._

**DRIVING DESTINY**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: Destiny Hero Dashguy racing against an Oni Tank T-34 down a long road; at its end is an injured Unhappy Maiden.

Effect: If you have at least three monsters on your field, you may Special Summon a monster of Level Four or less with "Destiny Hero" in its name from your hand, deck, or Graveyard in Attack Mode.

**RAGING STORM**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: Multiple tongues of blue energy devastating a forest.

Effect: You must destroy a Field Magic Card you control and offer one monster on your field as a Tribute when you play this card. Your opponent loses 500 Life Points for each Level Star of the Tributed monster.

**BUSTER WOLF**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: WIND/Beast/Effect/Lv. 4/1800/0

Image: A shimmering blue wolf, stalking a panicking Prevent Rat.

Effect: You may Tribute this monster during your Main Phase to deal Direct Damage equal to its ATK to your opponent's Life Points. If you do, you lose Life Points equal to half its ATK.

_Coming next chapter: The first specialist arrives, but there's something strange about him. Gerald can't work it out, but something about him seems familiar. He can't waste time working this out, however, as his opponent's strategy is one he's not familiar with… and one that's likely to flatten him if he doesn't counter it. Stay ready for Chapter Seventeen, "Barrage Tactics"! _


	18. Barrage Tactics

_**Something's strange about this opponent. And I'm not referring to the mask, the utter lack of speech, or the outfit that makes him look like he broke into the wardrobe department of a film noir parody. I'm talking about the feel of this duel.**_

_**There's a theory, advanced by the same people who can talk about the Heart of the Cards and successfully pronounce the capital letters, that all duels have a pattern to them. They say that duels have their own feels, their own rhythms… I've never understood what they're getting at, but the point is that all duels feel different depending on the circumstance.**_

_**I think I finally understand what they meant. This duel doesn't feel right. My opponent is supposed to be one of the specialists sent by the Darkness, but something makes me doubt that. And there's another nagging thought in my head…**_

…_**I know this man.**_

**Chapter Seventeen: Barrage Tactics **

The '86 Corolla GTS made its way through the streets of Minneapolis, with Gerald and Laura in the back and Chad driving, as usual. "What's so important in Saint Anthony Park?" Chad asked.

Gerald shook his head. "I have no idea. I just know it's something important… something I know very well."

"The Light works in odd ways," Laura muttered.

Suddenly, one of the Corolla's tires hit a pothole, and everyone in the car jumped a bit. Gerald's deck fell out of his Duel Disk, as did Chad's, and the two sets of cards collided, scattering on the floor of the car.

"Oh, I _hate_ driving in this city!" Chad exclaimed as he pulled the car to a stop (there wasn't any other traffic, for obvious reasons). He then turned, Gerald bent down, and the two retrieved their cards.

**0000000**

In the Saint Anthony Park district of St. Paul, two men conversed. How much time had passed, neither of the men involved in the discussion could be sure; neither of them had looked at their watch. But it was a fairly long while, they could both be sure.

"I see," one of the men said. "So that is what happened here… that is what Gerald's going through…"

"Exactly," the other man, Lucifer Allumette, replied. "I would not stay in ze open for too long; given ze nature of zis city now, zat is like a lightning rod to ze less pleasant element. In fact, if at all possible, I strongly suggest getting out of zis city."

The other man shook his head. "I need to see Gerald before I can do that."

"Ah." Lucifer shrugged. "I suppose zat would be a good idea, but how will you find him? I have ze forces of Dreams behind me for zat purpose. You… have a good pair of shoes."

"I suppose I'll have to trust the Light on this one, won't I?"

"To each his own." Exhaling, the Beloved of Fire turned to leave. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Monsieur."

"Indeed."

With that, Lucifer turned into a ball of fire and launched himself into the sky, leaving the other man only mildly bemused. Once he was alone, the man wondered, _He had a point. How on Earth am I going to find Gerald, anyway?_

A sound caught the man's ears at that point: the sound of a motorcycle engine. He turned to look in its direction.

The motorcycle pulled to a halt, and its rider slid off. And, for lack of a better word, the motorcycle's rider was weird. He (the observing man assumed it was a he) wore a long brown coat, belted shut. A fedora sat partway forward on his head, and he wore gloves that went a long way into his sleeves. The real attention-grabber, however, was his mask – it was gray, with two yellow eyeholes and a mesh grate over the mouth. There was a fairly old and battered Duel Disk on his arm.

"Who are you?" the other man asked.

The masked man took a small spiral notebook and pen out of his pocket, opened the book, and wrote something in it. He then held it up, revealing the words, "I am called Sentinel. I do not speak. What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here. What about you?"

After a moment, Sentinel wrote, "I am seeking out Gerald Laxina; I was told he would be here. What do you know of him?"

The other man narrowed his eyes, answering, "I'm looking for Gerald myself, actually. Why are you after him?"

"I must duel and defeat him and his allies," the masked man wrote in response. "My employers will have it no other way."

Taking a small metal rectangle from his pocket, the other man said, "How about we make a little deal… We'll duel right now, and the winner gets to stay here and wait for Gerald to show up. The loser takes that motorcycle and gets out of Saint Anthony Park. Sound good?"

Sentinel placed one hand to his mask's chin, and then wrote, "I do not lose to the foolish and pride-stricken. The challenge is accepted." He raised his Duel Disk and activated it.

The other man pressed a button on the rectangle, and it unfolded into a Pocket Disk, which he strapped to his arm. He flicked his deck into the proper space and said, "Begin."

Both Life Point counters set at 8,000.

**0000000**

As it happened, Degas and Alexander weren't watching Saint Anthony Park at the time.

In fact, they were watching Gerald and company making their way to the district in question.

"So…" Alexander rubbed at his temples, still feeling the sensation from earlier. "Where did we even get Sentinel from in the first place?"

Degas smirked. "Back in the days of the Duelist Kingdom tournament, Maximillion Pegasus employed a fairly large stock of Eliminators, duelists of exceptional skill who were designed to weed out the weaker, more foolish duelists from the island. The most famous one was Panik, the sadistic brute who preferred to attack at night.

"He wasn't the only one, though; Sentinel was one of the others. He never speaks, and no one has seen his face under the mask. He would emerge from nowhere and lead the unwary duelist to a duel platform, whereupon he'd defeat them and claim their Star Chips. Thanks largely to never running afoul of Yugi Motoh, Sentinel completed the Duelist Kingdom tournament unscathed, and with an undefeated record.

"After Duelist Kingdom, Sentinel traveled the world, hiring himself out as a ringer at various tournaments and competitions. He would join at the first level of a tournament and be paired against any entrant the organizers felt was too powerful or too weak for the intended skill level; after removing the chosen player, Sentinel would drop out of the tournament and collect his fee."

"Interesting," Alexander said. "How did we get him?"

Degas replied, "It's a natural progression from tournament ringer to dueling assassin. I promised him double his standard fee if he could take out one of Gerald's friends, and triple that sum if he brought down Gerald himself. Once the target is defeated, it will be a simple matter to send them a dose of the Darkness Infection through these mirrors…"

"And if Sentinel loses?" Alexander asked.

"He doesn't get paid. That simple. That and we add his soul to the jars."

The man in green frowned, drumming his fingers on the armrest.

In response, the man in black ran his hand over his bare scalp and muttered, "He'd better be good. Giving instructions to a mute over the phone for three months was an utter chore…"

**0000000**

The Corolla pulled to a halt once it entered Saint Anthony Park, and the three young people jumped out (or, in Gerald's case, slid out). All three had their Duel Disks at the ready, but that was standard procedure by this point.

After a few minutes, they looked around, wondering why Gerald's senses had brought them there. Finally, Gerald said, "I still feel that odd sense… but now I can't understand what it means."

"Are you sure it's not just aftershocks from your last vision?" Laura asked, arms crossed and Duel Disk tucked under her salient features. "I mean, the one you had before it was powerful enough to give you a nosebleed. Who knows what those are doing to you?"

"Yeah," Chad added. "Do you feel any signs of a brain tumor, by any chance?"

Gerald sighed. "That's a low blow, Chad. And no, I don't think my visions have anything to do with this, although I'm less sure about whether being a Chosen of the Light is part of it."

The discussion came to a sudden halt as someone arrived on the scene from apparently nowhere. The newcomer turned to them, and his coat spun around his ankles. He wore a long brown coat, belted shut, and long gloves; on top of his head was a fedora. The most interesting feature on the newcomer, however, was his gray mask, with glowing yellow eyeholes and a mesh circle over the mouth.

Both parties stared at each other for a moment, and then the masked man threw a business card to Gerald, who stumbled as he caught it. Looking over the card, Gerald read it aloud: "'I am called Sentinel. I do not speak. I serve Degas and Alexander, and have come to duel Gerald Laxina.' Straightforward challenge, I suppose."

"Gerald, be wary… who knows what deck a masked man uses?" Chad said.

Laura thought for a moment before adding, "Well, aside from a Mask Deck, that is…"

The lazy young man sighed. "A Mask Deck knocked me out of the Monster Island tournament… but I don't think he's using one." Gerald's eyes then went wide. "Hold on… that sensation… it's you." He paused. "How do I know you?"

Sentinel shrugged, activating the beaten-up Duel Disk on his arm.

"I know you from somewhere," Gerald said as he activated his own disk. "I don't know where, but if I win, I'm taking the mask off. Then I can know how."

Again, Sentinel shrugged. Both Life Point counters went to 8,000, and the duel was on.

**0000000**

"He _knows_ him?" Degas said. "How on Earth does he know Sentinel?" He turned to Alexander, asking, "Does this have something to do with whatever made you send him to Saint Anthony Park?"

The man in green tapped his fingers together, saying, "This is as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I can tell you this… the urge that drove Gerald to Saint Anthony Park was _not_ Sentinel at first."

Degas sat back in his chair, growling, "This makes no sense…"

**0000000**

Gerald drew his opening hand, and then said, "I won't discriminate against the disabled, so I'll let you have the opening move, Sentinel."

The masked man drew his opening hand, took a card from his hand, and dropped it onto a Magic and Trap zone. The card showed a rough-looking young man shielding himself from a blow.

"Heart of the Underdog," Chad noted. "Now Sentinel can draw an additional card during his Draw Phase if he draws a Normal Monster; all he has to do is show the card to Gerald."

"What if the card he gets that way is a Normal Monster?" Laura asked.

The artist frowned. "He can get another draw just by showing that one. The card keeps working until he hits a card that doesn't fit."

Setting a card facedown, Sentinel then set a monster in Defense Mode and waved to Gerald.

With a sigh, Gerald said, "Why do they insist on setting monsters in Defense Mode against me? Ah, well… I summon Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

The prototype robot clanked into place, flexing its metal limbs and emitting steam from its vents. (500/400)

"Jinzo #7," Gerald ordered, "attack him directly with Cyber Glitch."

Holding up one hand, the robot charged a small ball of dark energy inside of its palm, and then flung it straight at Sentinel. The ball exploded against him, but the masked man showed no reaction, even though his Life Points were now at 7,500.

"Now," Gerald continued, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." The cards appeared before him.

Sentinel drew his card…

"Activate Gravity Bind, preventing monsters of Level Four or higher from attacking," Gerald said. The quicksilver orb appeared next to him, bobbing and sending out waves of energy.

With a shrug, Sentinel revealed his draw. It was a rotting dragon, its wings eaten away by time.

"Dragon Zombie?" Chad muttered. "That's a Level _Three_!"

Putting the card into his hand, Sentinel drew again and revealed his card – a monster that looked like a large jelly bean with limbs, holding a sword and shield. The three recognized it as Jerry Beans Man.

Sentinel drew once more, and then stopped, merely adding this card to his hand. _Must not have drawn a monster,_ Gerald thought.

After setting a card facedown, Sentinel placed a card on one of his Monster zones. It was the large, rotting dragon he'd drawn earlier, exhaling a noxious breath with each gasp it took. (1,600/0)

"Crap," Laura muttered. "Gravity Bind means nothing to that thing when it's a Level Three."

Sentinel pointed to Gerald's Jinzo #7, and his zombified dragon turned to face it. With one massive inhalation, the zombie fired off a massive burst of corrosive breath, eating away at the machine's metallic skin and leaving only the most distorted, half-melted dregs of a monster in its wake.

Gerald blinked, and then shook a bit as his Life Points sank to 6,900. _Did he build that deck to counter mine?_ he wondered. "Activate Attack and Receive," he then said, "striking you for 700 points of damage because I lost Life Points this turn."

The armored swordsman sprang from Gerald's trap, flipped his sword in the air, and caught it before slashing across Sentinel's body. Again, however, the masked man took it in stride, not caring as his Life Points dropped to 6,800.

It was impossible to tell, given the mask, but it seemed Sentinel was contemplating his moves. He finally waved for Gerald to go.

_Okay, change of plans,_ Gerald thought as he drew. _There isn't any Level Three that exceeds 2,000 Defense Points, so…_ "I set one monster in Defense Mode," he said, "set another card facedown, and end my turn."

Sentinel drew, and once again showed off the card he'd drawn. This one was a green-feathered duck moving at incredible speed.

_Sonic Duck?_ Gerald thought. _That's another Level Three. Two of my anti-attack defenses are worthless against this deck, and I only have three of them all told._

Drawing another card, Sentinel shook his head. He slid that card into his Duel Disk, and then activated one of his set cards.

As the card flipped, a massive gust of wind destroyed Gerald's facedown Trap Hole. "Dust Tornado?" he asked. "Not surprised."

The masked man shrugged, and then placed another monster on his disk. With the usual flash of light, the Jerry Beans Man they'd seen him draw earlier appeared, waving his sword about. (1,750/0)

After a moment's thought, Sentinel waved for Gerald to go.

"Okay, so you didn't fall for it," Gerald said as he drew. _Well, here's a way to get the offense back on track…_ "I summon Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode."

The small white rabbit and its teleporter came into being, and the rabbit seemed unusually optimistic. (700/500)

"It's not Oolong the Balancing Rabbit," Gerald continued, "but it'll do. Inaba, attack Sentinel directly."

The rabbit disappeared as its teleporter sparked up, and a white ball of light floated up to Sentinel. The ball reformed into the Inaba White Rabbit, and it kicked at him…

…but the masked man activated one of his facedown cards. A shining armor appeared around him, and it detonated, destroying the rabbit.

_Of course he had Sakuretsu Armor,_ Chad thought.

With a sigh, Gerald said, "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Laura looked back and forth between them and said, "It seems the Darkness has figured out just how to strike back at Gerald's deck. You know… I never thought they'd be that competent."

**0000000**

"Hey!" Degas yelled at the mirror array, even as Alexander chuckled.

**0000000**

Sentinel drew, and then shook his head, merely adding this card to his hand. He then slid another card into his Magic and Trap zones before placing a monster from his hand onto the Duel Disk.

A blur made its way from the area behind them onto the field, moving faster than the eye could follow until finally standing stock-still in front of them. It was a green-feathered duck, wearing a red scarf on its neck and a bucket on its head. (1,700/700)

"That would be the Sonic Duck," Chad noted.

Lowering his head, Sentinel took his chin in one hand, apparently deep in thought, before waving for Gerald to move.

_What is he waiting for?_ Gerald thought. He drew, and then smirked. _This should help, if nothing else._ "I set another card facedown," he began, "and end my turn with that."

With his next draw, Sentinel showed it to the three watching him. It was a skull-headed giant lobster, which Gerald recognized as Mad Lobster. He added it to his hand, drew again, and then stopped with that one. Taking another card from his hand, he set it into his disk.

The Nobleman of Crossout appeared over Gerald's facedown monster, spinning his sword over his hands and ramming it into the hidden card. An Island Turtle briefly appeared before disappearing into nothingness.

"In response to that, I'll activate Scapegoats," Gerald replied. The four little goats popped into being, floating in front of him. (0/0 x4)

With a shrug, Sentinel flipped his defensive monster face-up. A mechanical monkey backflipped into view, scratching its head as its tail waved about. Its eyes flashed twin question marks. (1,000/1,800)

"The Acrobat Monkey," Laura noted. "He's all over the board, isn't he?"

After a moment's pause, Sentinel gestured to the Acrobat Monkey and then to one of Gerald's Scapegoats. The robot got the idea and somersaulted towards Gerald's monster…

"I activate Magic Cylinder," Gerald said, "negating the attack and striking you for the resulting damage."

The twin cylinders came into being, one sliding into place directly under the somersaulting monkey. It couldn't stop, and thus slid right into the weapon. The cylinders spun, and the other one launched the monkey at Sentinel, causing him to stagger as it crashed into his stomach. His Life Points now read 5,800, but more importantly, he'd reacted.

"That's the first time he's felt anything this entire duel," Laura said. "At least he's not made of cast-iron like Jacob was…"

Chad shivered. "Don't mention him."

After catching his breath, Sentinel waved to his other monsters, and they charged into the fray. The Dragon Zombie unleashed a wave of toxic breath, melting away one Scapegoat. The Jerry Beans Man charged forth, slicing another goat into two pieces, and the Sonic Duck moved so fast that its wake sucked the air from a third Scapegoat, popping it like a party balloon as it collapsed on itself.

With that done, Sentinel waved to Gerald, ending his turn.

Laura's eyes narrowed. "Say," she muttered. "If he'd summoned the Mad Lobster, he could have attacked Gerald's last Scapegoat again and destroyed it. That would have gotten him in a position to mob him on the next turn. Why didn't he summon this turn?"

"He's probably waiting for something else," Chad suggested. "He'd need an open Monster zone, since I don't think he's big on Tribute monsters."

Drawing his next card, Gerald played it, declaring, "Pot of Greed." As usual, he ignored the hologram entirely, drawing twice and adding those two cards to his hand. He then played one of them, saying, "Emergency Provisions will destroy my meaningless Gravity Bind and give me 1,000 Life Points in return."

As usual, a hideous mouth sprang up and consumed the Gravity Bind orb whole, raising Gerald's Life Points to 7,900.

"Next," Gerald continued, "I'll play my Messenger of Peace, preventing your monsters of better than 1,500 Attack Points from so much as touching me."

A missionary stepped out of Gerald's card, raising a hand to Sentinel's monsters. The Acrobat Monkey didn't seem to care, but the Dragon Zombie, Jerry Beans Man, and Sonic Duck all stepped back as if ashamed of themselves.

"Finally," the lazy duelist concluded, "I'll summon my Raging Flame Sprite in Attack Mode."

A tiny spark floated from Gerald's card and formed into a floppy-eared, torch-wielding sprite in red clothing. (100/200)

_I wonder if it will work for me,_ Gerald thought. He gestured to the Raging Flame Sprite and then to Sentinel.

Taking a small breath, the fire spirit blew on her torch, sending a small fireball into Sentinel's chest. He ignored it as usual, even as his Life Points sank to 5,700.

Gerald raised an eyebrow. "So it does work both ways… I'll end my turn on that, and as per her effect, the Raging Flame Sprite gains 1,000 Attack Points for damaging you." The sprite began to pant, her torch heating up. (100/200 – 1,100/200)

Taking a moment, Sentinel adjusted the position of his Duel Disk, and then drew. He shook his head, simply adding the card to his hand, and then set a monster onto his field.

A severely obese creature waddled into view, his body jiggling as he moved into place. Flexing his large hands, he looked greedily at the other monsters on Sentinel's field, all of which took a step back… as did the Messenger of Peace. (1,000/1,000)

"What's that thing?" Laura asked.

"You'd laugh if I told you," Chad replied.

"Try me."

With a deep breath, Chad said, "It's called the Man-Thro' Tro'."

After a moment's pause, Laura said, "Now tell me its real name."

"That _is_ the monster's real name. It's really called Man-Thro' Tro'."

Laura blinked, and then began to giggle. She held onto her sides, laughing harder, and then sank to her knees, pressing her forehead to the ground as she laughed. After a moment, she rolled onto her back, kicking her feet as she couldn't stop laughing.

Chad, Gerald, and Sentinel all just stared. Finally, the masked man just shrugged, gesturing to the troll and then to the last Scapegoat. The troll stormed past the Messenger of Peace, picked up the tiny goat, and crushed it in his bare hands.

_Well, that's it for his attacks… _Gerald braced himself. _Now the effect._

Sentinel now gestured to his Dragon Zombie. The Man-Thro' Tro' stomped over to it, grabbed hold of its spine, and began to spin. The zombie roared in confusion, right until the troll jumped up and threw it at Gerald.

The giant zombie dragon smashed into Gerald, flooring the lazy young man and knocking his Life Points to 6,100. He didn't bother to get up, saying instead, "Will you be doing that with the rest of them, as well?"

Sentinel nodded, now gesturing to the Jerry Beans Man. The troll grabbed it by the top, spun it over his head, and flung it directly at Gerald, causing his legs to kick as it made contact and sent his Life Points to 5,300.

"So it's like an upgraded Cannon Soldier?" Laura asked.

Chad replied, "Kind of. It does 800 points as opposed to 500, but you can't sacrifice tokens to it – only cards." He then sighed and added, "Of course, Sentinel's deck is just the sort to get around that."

Sentinel gestured to the Sonic Duck now, and the waterfowl began to quack as the Man-Thro' Tro' picked it up, right until he bent its body into a javelin. He threw the result, knocking the wind out of the prone Gerald and sending his Life Points to 4,500.

That done, Sentinel added a facedown card to his field and then waved for Gerald to move.

Slowly, Gerald rose to his feet, drawing a card. He then paused and said, "Ow. Ow, ow, ow, itai." He stretched, and then added, "Ow."

Chad and Laura glanced to each other.

Shaking his head, Gerald began, "I pay 100 Life Points for the Messenger of Peace." His Life Points lowered to 4,400. "Next, I'll attack with my Raging Flame Sprite again. Attack directly with Fire's Kiss."

The sprite took a deeper breath and blew on her torch, whereupon a wave of flame washed over Sentinel. The masked man covered his face with one arm as the fire struck him, his Life Points down to 4,600.

"I'll end on that," Gerald concluded. The Raging Flame Sprite's torch grew hotter, and she began to sweat. (1,100/200 – 2,100/200)

Chad snapped his fingers, saying, "I've seen Sentinel's deck before…" He paused, and then added, "But I can't remember where. I know I didn't see it played, but I've seen it before."

"Don't strain yourself," Laura replied.

Dusting off the front of his coat, Sentinel drew his next card, and then showed it to Gerald – it was another Dragon Zombie. He drew again, and then shook his head, tucking the card into his hand.

_He could deck himself at this rate,_ Gerald thought. He then sighed. _But I'm never that lucky, even with the Light behind me._

With a moment's consideration, Sentinel placed a Monster Card onto his field. The Dragon Zombie he'd just drawn rose into view, snorting noxious gases. (1,600/0)

Suddenly, the masked man gestured to one of his facedown cards, which activated as he did so. From the card emerged a massive tidal wave, rushing across the field. The Man-Thro' Tro' struggled against the waves as he sailed off into the unknown, the Raging Flame Sprite disappeared as the water struck her, and the Dragon Zombie dissolved into a purple goop.

As the water receded, Sentinel's Acrobat Monkey looked untouched… until it shorted out and exploded.

"He set off his own Torrential Tribute?" Laura asked. "Why would he do that?"

_Good question,_ Chad thought.

Once the effect of his first trap was over, Sentinel gestured to another card. This one was Call of the Haunted, and a cloud of smoke emerged from the ground before the Man-Thro' Tro' returned, shivering as if he'd seen some bad things in the Graveyard. (1,000/1,000)

Taking another card from his hand, Sentinel set it on the Duel Disk. As it came into being, all three of the duelists recognized it.

"Enchanted Fitting Room?" Chad said. "Now it makes sense! That card lets him look at the top four cards of his deck and Special Summon all monsters of less than Level Four… and that's half his deck. And he just took out Gerald's defenses!"

"If this works, he'll overrun Gerald entirely!" Laura added. "And all it will cost him is 800 Life Points!"

Gerald gulped.

As his Life Points sank to 3,800, Sentinel took four cards from the top of his deck and slid them over the open spaces on his Duel Disk, revealing their faces. They were cards Gerald recognized: Enemy Controller, Sakuretsu Armor, Swords of Revealing Light, and a monster he knew as Mechanical Devil. He exhaled, took the non-Monster Cards from his disk, and shuffled them into his deck.

There was a flash of light, and a curtain hanging from a white rod appeared. The curtain dropped, whereupon a robotic fiend emerged. It had four arms, two of which held long-bladed daggers and two of which held scimitars. The Mechanical Devil spun its weapons, steam shooting from a vent where a living creature would have a mouth. (1,750/0)

Finally, Sentinel gestured to his last facedown card. It lifted, revealing a second Dust Tornado. The wind picked up, and Gerald's Messenger of Peace went flying out into space; he never came back down.

Once again, Gerald braced himself, shutting his eyes.

Sentinel gestured, and the Man-Thro' Tro' stomped across the field. He grabbed Gerald's shirt, and then ran the young man's head into his kneecap. Gerald stumbled back and shook his head, muttering incoherently from the impact as his Life Points reached 3,400.

With another gesture, Sentinel gave a silent order to the Mechanical Devil. All of its blades spun as the metal fiend threw itself onto Gerald, slashing and cutting away with all four arms at once. The usually lazy duelists mustered the energy to scream before falling backwards, catching himself on one arm. His Life Points dropped to 1,650.

Just to add to the pain, Sentinel signaled to Man-Thro' Tro. The troll grabbed the Mechanical Devil, crumbling the metallic fiend into a ball. He then threw it at Gerald, knocking him flat and plunging his Life Points to 850.

That done, the masked man gave his cards one last look and waved for Gerald's turn.

Climbing slowly to his feet, Gerald rubbed his nose, muttering, "Ow…" He then patted himself down, looking for broken bones, and exhaled. "Remind me never to get into a bar fight. Either way…" He drew.

Behind the mask, Sentinel's mind churned. One thought was uppermost: _What will you do to escape this?_

"I play Swords of Revealing Light," Gerald declared.

_That works._

The gleaming swords fell from the sky, pinning Sentinel down and trapping the Man-Thro' Tro'. The troll struggled in his shining prison, but nothing could get him out of it.

"Now," Gerald continued, "I summon Amazon Archer in Attack Mode."

The teenage archer loaded an arrow into her bow as she appeared, glaring at the troll. He grinned sheepishly. (1,400/1,000)

"As much as I hate attacking monsters…" Gerald sighed. "Amazon Archer, attack Man-Thro' Tro' with Savage Arrow."

The archer sighted down her bow, tensing the bowstring. As much as the troll tried to flee, he couldn't escape the glowing cage of swords, and thus the arrow slammed through his torso without any difficulty.

As his key monster shattered, Sentinel nodded, his Life Points now 3,400.

"That's my turn," Gerald concluded.

Sentinel drew, stamping his foot as he did so – apparently, it wasn't a card he could use with Heart of the Underdog. He set a monster in Defense Mode and waved for Gerald to take his turn.

Gerald drew, and then stopped, eyes wide. The card in his hand glowed.

Chad and Laura noticed this as well, and they went into a hushed silence.

"I'll now tribute my Amazon Archer…" Gerald began.

His opponent was clearly taken aback, and the lazy man noticed this. _He must not have expected a Tribute Monster,_ Gerald thought. _Not surprisingly, given my theme – I wouldn't have expected one myself until a couple days ago._

Clearing his throat, Gerald continued, "As I was saying, I tribute my Amazon Archer for Heaven's Sphere. In Attack Mode, needless to say."

The Amazon Archer turned to Gerald and knelt, a smile on her face, before she glowed a bright white. Her form disappeared, expanding and warping into the perfect orb of Heaven's Sphere. Light surrounded Gerald as the Heaven's Gift shone upon him. (2,000/1,000)

"Heaven's Sphere," Gerald ordered, "destroy Sentinel's facedown monster with Light of Justice."

A pinpoint of light shone on the surface of Heaven's Sphere. It grew and expanded, until finally it unleashed a beam of pure light upon the masked man's defending monster. It was revealed to be a Mad Lobster, which swiftly boiled until it turned a bright red, and then shattered to a thousand pieces. (1,700/1,000)

Shrugging, Sentinel looked to his Life Points… and then let out a surprised cry as they clicked down to 2,400.

The lazy man chuckled, which turned into a yawn, before explaining, "I forgot to mention… Heaven's Sphere doesn't care about Attack or Defense Mode. It just does damage." He shrugged. "Your move."

The masked man's clothing shook as he trembled, drawing another card. He quickly showed it off – it was another Sonic Duck – and then drew again. Sentinel now shook his head, took three cards (including the one he'd just drawn) and slid them into his Duel Disk's Magic and Trap zones. He then set one monster in Defense Mode and waved to Gerald.

Gerald snapped a card off of his deck, using it to hide his yawn, and tossed it onto the Duel Disk. "Activate Giant Trunade," he said, "returning all of our Magic and Trap Cards to our hands."

For once, the gust of wind that picked up around them didn't start on Sentinel's side. This time, it emerged from Gerald's side, blowing the cage of Swords of Revealing Light off of his field… and sending all three of Sentinel's facedown cards back to his hand. The masked man seemed to merely take this in stride.

"Heaven's Sphere," Gerald continued, "purge the field of his facedown monster with Light of Justice."

The sphere charged up another burst of light, blowing away the Sonic Duck. Sentinel's Life Points sank to 1,100.

"Finally," Gerald concluded, "I'll replay Swords of Revealing Light." Even as the swords crashed down, he waved for Sentinel to move.

Sentinel drew, and then showed off his draw – another Jerry Beans Man. He drew again, shook his head, and set four cards into his Duel Disk before setting a monster in Defense Mode. He then waved for Gerald to go.

Gerald drew, and then yawned one last time. "I play a gift from a friend… Cold Wave," he said. "It freezes your Magic and Trap cards for the turn."

Taking his deck out of his pocket, Chad rifled through it, and then stopped. _So that's where it wound up? The potholes in this city are hideous!_

Ice formed on all of Sentinel's facedown cards, and the masked man knelt, accepting his impending defeat.

"Heaven's Sphere," Gerald ordered, "end this duel – destroy his facedown monster with Light of Justice."

After drawing energy into itself one last time, the Heaven's Gift fired a beam of scorching light through Sentinel's facedown Jerry Beans Man. His Life Points clanged to zero, and that was that.

The holograms faded, the Heaven's Sphere leaving an echo of its light for a moment, and Gerald shut off his Duel Disk. "That is it," he said. "Now to see your true face…"

Before the young man could move, Sentinel chuckled, rising to his feet and shutting down his Duel Disk. Then, to everyone's shock, he spoke. "You did very good, Gerald. Better than I thought your deck would do. I'm proud of you…"

Gerald nearly fell over in shock, and would have had Laura and Chad not caught him. All he could say was, "It can't be… it can't…"

The man calling himself Sentinel took off his hat, dropping it to the ground and exposing messy brown hair. He then clicked open a pair of catches and took off the mask, tossing it aside and revealing a weathered, kindly face. In fact, he looked like an older version of Gerald.

A moment passed, and then Gerald walked up to the older man and hugged him, eyes shut. The older man just returned the embrace, smiling softly.

Chad and Laura glanced to each other, slightly wigged out, before Chad finally asked, "Umm… Gerald, what are you doing?"

Releasing the embrace, Gerald turned to his friends and asked, "So when did they pass a law making it off-limits for me to give my father a hug?"

Both of his friends gaped, jaws dropped, until Laura finally recovered enough to say, "That's your dad?"

"My friends, I'd like you to meet my father, Oliver Laxina," Gerald said, gesturing to the older man.

Thus named, Oliver smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Well-met."

**0000000**

There was a pause of a few seconds before Degas stood up, knocked over his chair and shouted, "_WHAT?_" He kicked the chair away, yelling, "There is no way in any of the realms of Darkness that Sentinel was _always_ Gerald's father! We would have known about it!"

Still in his own chair, Alexander mused, "So _that_ was what I sensed… and what he sensed…" He then turned to Degas and said, "Calm down, Degas. You may recall there was a fairly long period of time we didn't bother checking on Saint Anthony Park. The best guess is that Mr. Laxina fought Sentinel, beat him, and stole his clothes."

The man in black shut his eyes, took several deep breaths, and ran a hand over his head. "That would make a great deal of sense. In which case, I must ask where Sentinel went to…"

There was a flash, and a door briefly appeared in the viewing room. A man stepped out of it, his head wrapped in bandages except for his eyes and nose. The man wore a thin black shirt and pants, and he was carrying a small notebook and pen.

The man in black and the man in green stared at him. "Sentinel, we presume?" Alexander asked.

All the thus-identified Sentinel could do was nod.

**0000000**

The group in Saint Anthony Park sat on the ground, Gerald next to his father and his friends a short distance away.

"What are you doing in Minnesota, father?" Gerald asked.

Oliver cleared his throat and said, "It was a sort of scouting trip. Your mother and I are moving up here next month, what with 3M hiring me…"

"What's your job, anyway?" Chad asked the older man.

"I'm a research scientist – I guess you could consider me freelance, in a way, since I've spent much of my career bouncing around companies. It's why my family moved so much when Gerald was younger…"

Laura blinked, thinking, _So that's why he's so… well, him._ She then looked to him with a slight blush.

Trying to ignore Laura's expression, Gerald said, "You were saying, father?"

"Ah, yes," Oliver replied. "I was touring the facilities at 3M when the Darkness Infection struck Minneapolis. One of the other employees had just mentioned seeing someone with your description running around town. I was just about to ask for details when everyone in the building collapsed.

"Somehow, though, it missed me. I got out of the building, only to discover how it had struck almost everyone else in Minneapolis. As you might expect, knowing that you were in the area, I worried greatly about you and began searching the town.

"My search got nowhere until today, when I encountered a man named Lucifer Allumette. He explained the situation…"

"You met Lucifer?" Gerald asked.

Oliver nodded. "He seemed like a nice enough person, if a little self-centered."

"Now that we've covered how you got here," Chad said, "tell us why you went through that 'Sentinel' business."

"That wasn't my idea, initially. I encountered a mute man calling himself Sentinel – in writing – who was waiting to attack Gerald. I challenged him to a duel, and won in about six turns." He chuckled. "After I defeated him, the man didn't even try to fight back when I took his mask, hat, gloves, and coat. He just ran to his motorcycle and headed deeper into town."

Laura then asked, "While we're still running the Q and A session, where'd you get that deck from, anyway?"

Oliver smiled. "It was the featured 'spec deck' in last month's _National Duelist Monthly_. I decided to see if it would actually work."

Snapping his fingers, Chad muttered, "_That's_ where I saw it before."

Something suddenly occurred to Gerald. In a bit of panic, he retrieved his deck, flipped through the cards, and took out Heaven's Sphere. "Why… why did this card attack _you?_" he asked, his bored tone now holding an edge of panic. "This is a Heaven's Gift, a card of Light. Why did it attack my father?"

"You didn't know it was me," Oliver said, placing a hand on Gerald's shoulder. "As far as you were concerned, I was a servant of the Darkness. It was not deliberate."

Although he relaxed at that point, the tense expression on Gerald's face refused to fade. _This… this is a moral question I never thought the Light would make me ask. What could this card have done had I attacked him directly?_

**0000000**

"I've seen enough," Degas said, snapping his fingers. The mirror array shut down for a moment, and the man in black turned to Sentinel. "How will you justify that?"

There was no response at first, but then Sentinel bowed. He then reached into his pants pocket and took out a small handgun.

_Like bullets will hurt us,_ Alexander thought.

Sentinel then placed the gun to his temple.

"Hanzaki, the jar, now!" Degas yelled.

Just as the air blurred and Hanzaki emerged with a marked jar, the mute man pulled the trigger.

The shot echoed through the room. Shortly afterward, the body hit the ground with a thud.

Hanzaki opened the jar, and a ball of light emerged from Sentinel's body. It hovered in the air, and then floated inexorably into the jar, settling between the lines. Hanzaki then sealed the jar.

"That idiot," Degas said, hand to his forehead. "What did he think we were going to do to him?" He sighed, and turned to Alexander. "I'm going to place his soul with the others. Call Mi'Hen and send him after them."

"All right," Alexander replied, edging his chair back a fair distance from Sentinel's cooling remains.

With another sigh, Degas and Hanzaki left the room. Once they were gone, Alexander snapped his fingers with a spark of black energy, turning the mirror array back on.

**0000000**

The four people had stood up again, dusting off. "I'd suggest getting out of town if possible and camping in your hotel room if not," Gerald told his father. "I don't want to encounter you as a Darkness Infected."

"I can understand that," Oliver replied. The two hugged each other again. "Allow me to wish you the best of luck, my son."

"Thanks, father."

As the two headed their separate ways – Gerald back to the car (where Chad and Laura were waiting) and Oliver deeper into town – the older man turned and added, "Don't forget two days from now."

Gerald visibly winced, but replied, "I won't."

As the lazy young man climbed into the car, Chad asked, "What's two days from now?"

"Someone's birthday," came the response.

Even as the car headed out of Saint Anthony Park and towards the Midway, Gerald's friends couldn't get a more precise answer out of him.

**0000000**

Alexander snapped his fingers again, shutting off the mirror array, and then moved to the phone. He snatched up the receiver and hit a button on the speed dial.

"Mi'Hen?" he said on receiving an answer. "Gerald and company are currently heading towards the Midway district, in the approximate direction of Thomas-Dale. Intercept and duel them before they get there. The money should be in your account by now. We'll be watching." He then hung up.

After that, Alexander passed through a door and emerged in another room – his own room. He opened his nightstand and retrieved a small, thin plastic card from a bank – one with a calendar on it.

_I haven't kept track of time in a while, but he was right,_ the Dark Conduit thought. _It is two days from now._

**MECHANICAL DEVIL**

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: DARK/Machine/Lv. 3/1750/0

Image: A four-armed, metal demon, snorting steam out of a vent on its "face".

Flavor Text: Built by forgotten demons, this creature runs on a core of pure darkness, hunting down whatever it wishes.

_Coming next chapter: The next of Degas and Alexander's specialists arrives, and his target is Laura. Her deck seems ready, but the opponent is a man of means, and he's got his hands on some of the rarest cards she could ever imagine facing... and one that she didn't see coming in her wildest dreams! Can Laura survive against one of the rarest, most deadly forces Duel Monsters ever produced? Find out in Chapter Eighteen, "Avarice"!_


	19. Avarice

**_Everyone knows the answer to this question: what's the rarest playable card in Duel Monsters? (Note the "playable" - this leaves out trophy cards like Yugi Motoh's Ties of Friendship and illegal cards like the Golden Castle of Stromberg; it also leaves out the God Cards, but I personally hope they're gone now anyway...)_**

**_The answer is the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. Nobody knows how Seto Kaiba got Pegasus to create it, short of outright blackmail, but he's got the one copy in the world. Then again, he's the one guy who can use it on a regular basis._**

**_The question of the second-rarest playable card is even easier - there are three Blue Eyes White Dragons, and Seto Kaiba has all three. He certainly flaunts them enough for it to be an easy question._**

**_In this day and age, the rarity question that stumps people is this: what's the third-rarest card in the world? I've heard answers ranging from Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (ten copies) to its opposite, Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End (eight confirmed copies)._**

**_I never cared too much about the answer, since my own deck doesn't use much in the way of rare cards. It's a budget decision as well as a conscious choice. But I think I just ran into the answer._**

**_There are only five copies of this card still in existence. And the fifth is staring me in the face, ready to attack..._**

**Chapter Eighteen: Avarice**

Somewhere in St. Paul, in the laboratory room, Degas and Alexander set the last jar in a line on the table. In all, there were four jars in the line, each of which held a blackened ball of light.

"Thomas 'Ogre' Grunn," Degas said, looking to the first. He turned his head as he continued, "Jean-Vic Viper. Menardi, formerly Donna Abernathie. And now the man only known as Sentinel. That makes four, and we need six."

Alexander had trouble keeping his distaste under control, but somehow achieved it as he said, "Who will be the other two?"

The man in black ran one hand over his head, answering, "That question will have to stay unanswered for now. Part of it depends on the performance of our other two specialists..." He then turned to Alexander and added, "Or we could always use one of your fortune-tellers."

"Keep your opinions on my oracles to yourself," the man in green replied, eyes narrowed. "The Light is doing better than we'd planned; I personally think any aid we can garner is to our advantage. Do you disagree?"

Degas shook his head, one hand pushing his sunglasses back up. "Not fully. The first one you found has worked quite well. But..." He then spoke with a spike of cynicism in his voice. "I still can't fathom why you had Hanzaki retrieve that mad prophet of yours."

"Throughout history, the best oracles have had some degree of insanity..."

"I think you've confused cause and effect there," Degas interrupted. "Being able to see the future may imply insanity, but being insane does _not _therefore imply an ability to see the future."

Turning on one heel, Alexander headed for the door, saying, "As long as we're on that subject, I was going to check on the... 'mad prophet', I believe your words were. Care to join me?"

The man in black shrugged. "I have nothing better to do."

The two stepped into the hallway, moving through another door as it appeared. They emerged into a small black room, the only feature of any sort being Caiside Bahn.

Although not as filthy as when Hanzaki first brought him in, Caiside still didn't look very good. He stared at the ground, babbling to himself, and he hung from two chains set hard into the wall. (The chains were made from dark energy - Degas had insisted on restraining the madman, and Alexander had no choice but to comply.) When the door opened, he looked at his captors and merely smirked.

"Caiside?" Alexander asked, the room brightening slightly as he spoke.

Pulling himself to a standing position, the man thus addressed stared at - and then through - Alexander, a lopsided grin on his face. "Confusion of nineteen..." he muttered. "Has he settled it?"

Degas shook his head. "The maniac's not even here. He's entirely in his own little world."

The man in green stepped forward, taking hold of Caiside's chin. "Listen," he said. "I need information on what's going to happen in the near future..."

As if he hadn't heard it, Caiside instead said, "Never sure, ten five fifteen, what would go down in nineteen... I have a song. Would you like to hear it? 'Boys and girls come out to play, on the busy motorway..."

There was a moment's pause, as Alexander and Degas looked to each other, and then the two sighed and turned to leave.

But before they could get to the door, Caiside raised his head and said, in a far deeper and more serious tone than before, "Shadows lengthen..."

Degas reached out, stopping Alexander in his tracks, and the two moved back to Caiside, standing before him. "Continue that train of thought," he said, much more interested than before. "What do you mean by it?"

"The shadows lengthen," Caiside continued, his eyes hollow of all but their colors. "The loss of their monarch struck into them. Torn and bloodied, the shadows lengthen and seek to rise. Stolen magic is their tool, and a stolen facade their weapon. For their enemy walks, an agent in a war that means nothing to the enemy's masters. 'Light and Darkness, Dreams and Shadows, all things are in the Balance'... All facets of the Balance are off, and the obscurer of light and concealer of darkness turn to each other. Shadows seek to quench the fire... seek to extinguish the flames..." His voice began to trail off, but he managed to add, "Like nothing on this earth..."

With that, the madman passed out, slumping in his chains.

Degas took a step back, putting a hand to his chin. "Perhaps I should eat my earlier words," he said. "Your mad prophet is worth more than I figured."

"Come to think of it, when the Shadow Queen died, it threw Dreams and Shadows out of balance as well," Alexander replied. "It wasn't quite as bad as the balance of Light and Darkness, but bad enough. It seems we'll have to be on guard for a move by the Shadows, as well." He then raised an eyebrow and asked, "But why here and why now? This isn't their place."

"They must be getting desperate. After all, the Dreams sent someone here, and we still don't know why."

"That's only a half-truth."

Caught in the statement, Degas frowned and said, "I'll give you that one. We _think _we know why... but I'd still like confirmation."

**0000000**

A helicopter entered the airspace over the city of Minneapolis, coming in low as it passed over the destroyed area. In the back of the aircraft, a man in ridiculously expensive clothing flipped through a copy of the current USA Today.

"'Scientists currently have no explanation for what witnesses say was a massive, unprecendented meteor shower that struck downtown Minneapolis yesterday,'" the man read to himself. "'According to multiple accounts, the meteorites struck and destroyed multiple buildings in the area around the Wells Fargo building, including the building itself. The meteors continued to fall for three minutes... Although it is certain that hundreds were killed, the exact death toll is unknown at this time, as rescue workers and medical personnel are still unable to enter the city due to the mysterious "invisible wall" surrounding it. There are still no accepted theories as to the wall's nature.'"

Folding the paper, the man smirked. "I could tell them, but business is business." He then looked to the pilot. "Have we found them yet?"

"We're almost at their last reported location, Mr. O'Connell," the pilot replied.

"Good." The man picked up a deck of Duel Monsters cards and ran his fingers over their protectors. "The faster I can get this deal over with, the better. I hate working for someone else." He chuckled. "Just the self-employed streak in my nature, I suppose."

**0000000**

At the moment, the Corolla GTS was parked among a deserted street in the Thomas-Dale neighborhood; of course, all the streets were quiet in the city, given the circumstances. After two duels and extended time in the car, it was time for a break.

Chad leaned against the side of the car, sipping from a bottle of flavored water. In an attempt to live up to his fairly elaborate outfit, he was slouching. The attempt was not a very good one, making him look more like a praying mantis with good taste.

Off to one side, Laura was going through her workout. Gerald had witnessed it the night before, and after whimpering refused to ever watch it again. The young woman's martial arts style blended elements various self-defense forms with a primary focus on kickboxing, and as she practiced, she went through the motions with a grace that spoke of long hours of training. Chad glanced at her from time to time, and then glanced over to Gerald.

As per his refusal to watch Laura at work, the lazy young man was stretched out on the street, head pointed in her direction to prevent even an accidental look at her. He was snoring - of course; if Gerald went immobile, he was either asleep or someone had punched him out. Besides, he hadn't fallen asleep after his last duel, so he made to make up for it.

As the early summer sun shone on him, he shifted in his jacket and muttered. Finally, a beam of sunlight landed on his eyes and didn't move. He sat up, rubbing his eyelids, and looked over to a boarded-up storefront.

With a mutter of "What the...?", Gerald rose to his feet, dusted off his pants, and moved up to the boards, double-checking what was on them. He then said, "Look at this."

Chad stepped away from the car, and Laura brought her practice to a halt, both of Gerald's companions moving alongside him. "What's so important that it can interrupt my exercise?" the young woman asked, hands behind her head and under her hair.

Stepping back from the storefront, Gerald gestured to a large piece of graffiti, painted on the boards with spray paint.. It was in the shape of a diamond, with four circles where the lines met. In each circle someone had spray-painted a letter: an L in the left one, a D in the top one, an S in the bottom one, and a DA in the right one. There was a circle in the center, with the letters C and DI sprayed side-by-side within it.

"Well, it's elaborate, but..." Suddenly Chad's eyes went wide, and he said, "Hold it. That's how you described the Balance!"

Laura tilted her head, studying the design. "Light, Dreams, Shadows, and Darkness... they're in the same place you described them being, but what's with the letters in the center?"

Gerald shook his head. "I don't know. When the Balance is out of alignment, according to my first vision, the center circle is Chaos. But I'm still not sure what it is when the Balance is aligned... What's more important is that there's someone in this city who knows what the Balance is." He sighed. "The Darkness Infection probably caught them already, so the odds of peacefully learning where they learned it are nil."

"Assuming we can even find them," Laura said, adding a sigh of her own. She spread her hands, fluffing out her hair.

Chad sipped his water again and then asked, "I know Lucifer can only tell us so much, but do you think he knows what DI could mean?"

The lazy one shook his head, and then put his hand to his temple, rubbing it. "I think he knows, but since he's Dreams and not Light, I'm fairly certain the rules say he can't tell us about it." He paused, and added, "However, I have a fairly good idea..."

The dust on the street began to swirl around the feet of the three duelists, and Chad looked up, saying, "Heads up, my friends. I think another employee of Degas and Alexander just arrived."

Just after he said that, the downdraft picked up, and all three of the duelists turned away. A helicopter descended into view, the side door sliding open and a ladder falling into view. A man climbed partway down and then jumped, landing cleanly on his feet. The helicopter ascended away, and as the draft ended those around the man could resume their normal stances.

Everything about the newcomer screamed his wealth. He wore a bowler hat on top of his head, and his suit was of a make and cut that was both elegant and ungodly expensive. He wore dress shoes that shone like pure obsidian, and he wore a large gold wristwatch that, if not a Rolex, was a brand so costly that the middle class had never heard of it. His eyes were hidden behind gold-frame shades, but his hands were free of the Darkness Infection. He was thin, but wiry, as if he did little hard work but kept himself in shape.

On his hip he had a locked deck case, and on his arm he wore a Duel Disk. But, of course, this was no ordinary Mark 2. The body of it was shaped like a golden diamond, the deck slot in the center, and the arm folded down against his sleeve. The edge of the disk was lined in platinum, and the deck slot was lined with sapphire. Other gems studded the outside of the body and the spaces between monster zones.

"That's a Kaibacorp Executive Luxury Disk, Royal model," Chad said, his eyes glued to it. "The down payment on my car was less than that thing!"

The man chuckled and said, "From your height, you're likely driving a minivan, so I take it as a compliment." His voice was rather reedy, but there was an evident Yale accent behind it. "I will introduce myself, since unless you read the business pages you're unlikely to know my name. I am Mi'Hen Andrew Galloway O'Connell - please call me Mi'Hen."

The name meant nothing to Gerald or Laura, as proven by their blank stares, but Chad gaped. Seeing their lack of knowledge, he turned to his friends and said, "If he's telling the truth, this is one of the richest men in the United States! Mi'Hen A.G. O'Connell is an importer/exporter who's one of the majority stockholders in seven of the Fortune 500's top twenty-five companies! He makes more when he blinks than most people make their entire lives!"

"How do you know about this?" Gerald asked.

"I read Fortune now and then," Chad replied. "He's mentioned pretty much every month."

With a self-effacing chuckle, Mi'Hen said, "You flatter me, but it's more like every other month. But yes, I have more money than the three of you put together and raised to the tenth power. And in my spare time, I duel. Speaking of which..." He held out a hand. "One of you must now duel me. My contractors insist."

Laura said, "You mean Degas and Alexander, I take it." Once again, however, she noticed Gerald wincing at the latter name and wondered what his problem was. He didn't react that way to Degas's name...

"Indeed," Mi'Hen said, sighing. "Today, it seems, I have gone from capitalist to hired gun. At least I'm getting paid for this. Richly."

"Why do you need the money?" Chad asked. "Anyone else on the Forbes list, I can understand, but you?"

The rich man sighed again. "My last major investment went under at an inconvenient moment. I was the last one to bail out, and much of what I'd put in disappeared with it. Compared to some of my actions it was minor, but I'm still a bit stretched until the month's out. I could, of course, remake the money with one low-risk low-yield, but it's just easier to do this job for Degas and Alexander. The fee will precisely cover what I need."

"Dare I ask what it was?" Gerald said.

Mi'Hen replied, "I assure you it was clean money. Clean money going in, clean money coming out. I'm not that greedy."

**0000000**

"I doubt it," Degas said as the two men tuned the mirrors towards the scene. "How much is his fee, again?"

Alexander quoted a number that made Degas turn even paler than usual. "My thoughts exactly," the man in green said. "He'd better be worth it."

Regaining his composure, Degas said, "He is. After all, when he went into dueling, he did it exactly the same way he does business - costly, but well worth the investment. And his primary investment... well, you will see, my friend."

**0000000**

Gerald and his allies had moved to the steps in front of a low-rent apartment building (Thomas-Dale, despite much civic improvement, was still the red-light district of St. Paul in spirit if not function). After brief negotiations, Gerald asked Mi'Hen, "Shall we choose your opponent, or do you already have someone in mind?"

"I've already made my choice." The rich man smirked. "I do love redheads. Miss... Laura Vesnic, I believe your name is... I challenge you to a duel."

Despite the situation, Chad couldn't help a laugh, noting to Gerald, "Did he have to specify by name? She's the only redhead in the group. I'm blonde and you've got hair like tree bark."

At first, Laura didn't get up. In response, Mi'Hen tapped his knuckles on his Duel Disk, saying in a sing-song fashion, "Twice knocks for red locks..."

"I hate that line," Laura groaned, getting to her feet and flicking on her Duel Disk. "Let's get this over with before I vomit on your shoes."

Mi'Hen winced, saying, "Please don't joke like that. My shoes are worth more than every piece of clothing you've worn since your birth." He then took a small key from his pocket, unlocked his deck case, and carefully slid his cards from it. Gently, he set them in the deck slot, and pressed a small button. A plastic shield slid over the deck, locking firmly into place. He used the key to unlock the top of the shield, pushing it away from his deck.

"What's with the security?" Chad asked as Laura loaded her deck into her disk.

"Most of my cards are rare and hard to find," the rich man replied. "In total, my deck is worth more than all of the houses the three of you grew up in. And that's including all your different homes as you moved, Mister Laxina."

Gerald let out a low whistle.

Mi'Hen tapped one last button on the arm of his Duel Disk, watching it flip into place and lock, and then said, "I'll begin our battle if you don't mind, Miss Vesnic."

"Take your best shot," Laura replied, snarling. "I won't lose to a rich bastard like you!"

"Such language," the rich man said as both Life Point counters set themselves at 8,000 and the duel began.

**0000000**

In another room in the lair of Degas and Alexander, a one-eyed man bent over his Tarot cards, flipping up the top card. "Laura Vesnic," he whispered.

Looking at the card thus drawn, he raised an eyebrow. "The eight of swords... the woman blindfolded and trapped by swords. She is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't, trapped by a secret she never wants to say. She will have to move eventually, though."

Now the one-eyed man said, "Mi'Hen O'Connell," drawing again. This time he smirked, saying, "The four of pentacles. The miser who cannot let go of one thing for another no matter the cost. Tell me something I don't know."

He set these cards by the Hanged Man and the nine of swords, briefly musing, "How odd, I must say, that the Hanged Man is flanked by swords. He will change because he must; they must change or die. Which will give first?"

The one-eyed man asked now, "And the outcome?" He drew the next card, sighing as he saw it. "The Wheel of Fortune. Yes, I know, but for _whom?_"

**0000000**

Mi'Hen flicked his fingers over the top card of his deck, lightly adding it to his hand, and then flipped three of his cards into his Duel Disk. "One monster facedown," he said, "and two cards down as well." The holograms glowed into being, and he smirked behind his hand, saying, "Your move, Miss Vesnic."

_At least he's formal about it,_ Laura thought. She drew a card and studied her opening hand, thinking, _Of course I don't have Sasuke Samurai…_ "I'll start with Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in Attack Mode," she said.

The elfin swordsman stepped into view, drawing his sword and giving it a few test swings. (1,400/1,200)

"I'll set a card facedown," Laura continued, "and now… Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his facedown monster with Silver Blade Slash!"

With a cry of enthusiasm, the elf charged forth, bringing his blade around in a low arc. Mi'Hen's facedown monster briefly appeared; it was a small flying squirrel. There was a squeak as it shattered into a hundred pieces. (1,000/100)

The rich man shook his head, saying, "You've just struck down a Nimble Momonga. When it dies, I gain 1,000 Life Points, and I can Special Summon two more from my deck in face-down Defense Mode."

"That old trick?" Chad said, sighing afterward. "It gives beasts a bad name…"

Even as Mi'Hen shrugged, two more facedown monsters appeared before him, and his Life Points rose to 9,000.

_And of course it's one situation where I needed Sasuke Samurai…_ Laura thought. "If that's the case, I'll end my turn," she said.

Mi'Hen drew, sorting through his cards. "I know the weakness of the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian," he said. "Who doesn't? And one of my treasures is just powerful enough to deal with him - I summon Mechanicalchaser in Attack Mode!"

A bulbous robot body hovered off the guard, sprouting a thin stem and multiple cutting implements like a deadly flower. (1,850/800)

Gerald tilted his head. "That card is a Tournament Pack special," he said. "The cheapest I've seen it is fifteen dollars, and that was in a discount sale. I actually have one…"

"Where'd you win it?" Chad asked.

"First place, 2003 Michigan Regionals."

Ignoring the sideline conversation, Mi'Hen declared, "Mechanicalchaser, attack the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! Rampant Circuit!"

The bladed implements began rotating, and the machine hurled itself at Laura's guardian like a food processor gone awry. He tried to defend himself, but the sword went hurtling across the arena, and a blade slit his throat, causing him to collapse.

As her monster shattered, Laura twitched an eyebrow, her Life Points at 7,550.

"I'll end my turn with that," Mi'Hen concluded.

Drawing her next card, Laura looked at it and thought, _Where were you two minutes ago?_ "I'll start," she began, "by summoning Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in Attack Mode."

The green-clad ninja appeared in a cloud of smoke, silk sashes blowing in the breeze. He lowered his hand from in front of his face and drew two kunai, spinning them on his fingers. (1,800/1,000)

"Not enough," Mi'Hen said, pointing to his Mechanicalchaser. "Not enough by fifty points. Your bad luck it wasn't in Defense Mode, hmmm?"

Taking another card from her hand, Laura showed it off, saying, "That's why I carry some of these. This Equip Magic Card, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, will increase Sasuke's Attack Points by 800!"

The sword fell into Sasuke's hands, and he waved it about, smiling as he got into it. He tossed both kunai into one hand and pocketed them, wielding the blade as a katana. (1,800/1,000 - 2,600/1,000)

"Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke," the young woman ordered, "attack Mechanicalchaser with Lotus Petal Shadow Slash!"

The ninja took a step back, setting the blade low, and then ran forward. Before he reached Mechanicalchaser, however, he disappeared. The robot buzzed, "DOES NOT COMPUTE" flashing on its face, and began to look around…

…whereupon four copies of Sasuke flashed past it, each striking once with their swords. There was a pause, and then the robot fell apart, slashed into five pieces.

Even as Mi'Hen's Life Points dropped to 8,350, however, he activated one of his facedown cards. "Activate Option Hunter!" he announced. "When one of my monsters is destroyed in battle, I can use this trap to gain Life Points equal to its Attack Points!"

A red glow shone over the rich man as his Life Points rose to 10,200.

"Good lord, how many Life Points does a man need?" Chad asked, holding up his hands in confusion.

Though she was kicking herself over it, Laura had nothing she could do. "I'll end my turn there."

Drawing his next card, Mi'Hen slid his thumb along its face, smiling. "Another of my rarities," he said. "This one cost me fifty dollars in an online auction. I just have to sacrifice one of my Nimble Momongas... which, sadly, doesn't trigger its effect... and then I may summon the Archfiend of Gilfer!"

One of his facedown monsters vanished, and it was replaced by a hideous, snarling demon, tail whipping about behind it as it drew its wings close. Long, wicked claws scraped along the ground, and it stared at Laura with vicious, dead eyes. (2,200/1,500)

"Now..." Mi'Hen took two cards out of his hand and slid them into his Duel Disk. "I'll set these two little lovelies facedown and end my turn."

_If he doesn't shut up, I'll forfeit this duel just so I can beat him into a pulp!_ Laura thought. She drew and then said, "I summon Sasuke Samurai in Attack Mode."

The super-deformed swordsman moved up along the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, and the two shared a look of mutual distrust before they settled down. The shorter of the pair drew his sword, testing its edge on the sunlight. (500/800)

"In response," the rich man interrupted, "I'll activate my trap, the Continuous Trap known as Astral Barrier!"

Circles of light surrounded both of Mi'Hen's monsters, and they became faintly translucent as the trap settled into its upright position.

Gerald raised an eyebrow. "There are only two uses to that card," he said. "One is to protect your monsters at expense to yourself, and the other is in combination with other cards. But what combo could he be trying to set off?"

"It's not Inferno Tempest," Chad added. "None of Laura's monsters are strong enough yet, and he doesn't have anything in play that would let him benefit..."

Taking a moment to work out the details, Laura began, "Sasuke Samurai, dispose of his facedown Nimble Momonga with High-Velocity Wakazashi!"

The little samurai disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared on the other side of the facedown monster. A second later, the bisected flying squirrel appeared and shattered.

Mi'Hen shrugged, saying, "And as per your little samurai's effect, I don't gain a benefit from its death. Ah, well."

With a nod, Laura continued, "And, even though I know its effect, I'm not going to let the Archfiend of Gilfer just sit there. Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, bring it down!"

The ninja began its charge, and then Mi'Hen made a very obscure (and possibly obscene) gesture with his left hand. The Archfiend disappeared, and Sasuke continued to charge directly at the rich man.

"He's activated Astral Barrier," Gerald said. "Now what?"

As if answering the question, Mi'Hen triggered both of his facedown cards. "Activate Draining Shield and Nutrient Z, in that order!" he declared. "Due to the rules of chaining, Nutrient Z goes first; when I'm about to take 2,500 or more points of damage, I gain 4,000 Life Points!"

A mysterious, skull-topped canister with an IV drip on the side appeared next to Mi'Hen. He took the IV and inserted it into his veins, whereupon a black liquid pumped into him. He let out a satisfied sigh as his Life Points rose to 14,200.

Laura's eyes went wide as she stated, "And because of your Draining Shield, Sasuke's attack is negated and you gain his Attack Points in Life Points... That's 2,600 more!"

On cue, a shield of energy surrounded Mi'Hen, with a metal circle on its front. The ninja tried to get around it, but his sword was drawn to the circle with an electric jolt. Even as the ninja fought to free himself, a green light shone on Mi'Hen, raising his Life Points now to 16,800.

Both of the spectators just stared, unblinking, as their brains tried to confirm that impossibly high Life Point total. Finally, Chad said, "He has double Laura's Life Points! What in God's name is he going to do with them?"

Even as she fought the urge to shout every obscenity she knew, Laura watched her ninja stumble away, drained, from Mi'Hen's field. Finally, she slid a card into her Duel Disk, announcing, "I'll set this facedown and end my turn."

Mi'Hen drew his next card, smiling widely. "Ah, another of my rare beauties," he said. "I'll play a Magic Card that cost me ten thousand dollars - a special promo known as Glory of the King's Hand!"

He held up the card, with its picture of an endless treasure hoard, and then set it gently onto his Duel Disk. It rained diamonds, as well as pearls, emeralds, and sapphires... but most of all, it rained gold coins. Treasure fell from the skies, piling up at his feet, and the luster of the gold lit him from below in the world's most expensive lighting.

"But that's not even a real card!" Chad shouted. "That was one of the entry cards for the Duelist Kingdom tournament! You can't play that in a duel!"

"Dead wrong!" Mi'Hen retorted. "Industrial Illusions marketed a special promotional version of Glory of the King's Hand last year; however, due to the cost, very few duelists got the chance to find out about it. I just had to pay the price - in cash, mind you - and I became one of twenty-five duelists to own it!"

Gerald sighed. "What does it do, then?"

Reaching to his deck, Mi'Hen started drawing cards, explaining, "When I play this card, I may draw my hand up to six cards. In addition, for each card I draw, I gain 1,000 Life Points." He then raised his hand, adding, "Before you start screaming that it's broken, I can only play this card if it's the first card I play this turn, and my turn ends after the effect resolves. In addition, the card removes itself from the game, and even if I get it back, the card cannot be played again. If Miss Vesnic had countered it, my turn would go down the toilet."

Chad and Gerald growled, but there was nothing they could do about it.

The rich man drew five cards in all, fanning his hand to make sure he had the right amount. Once his hand was full, Mi'Hen spread his arms, letting the golden light shine upon him. His Life Point counter rolled up to 21,800. He then waved for her to move.

_Fair it might be,_ Laura thought with a frown, _but how the hell am I going to knock 20,000 Life Points off of him?_ She drew her next card and thought, _The answer: one at a time._ "I summon Goblin Attack Force in Attack Mode!" she then said, setting the card onto her disk.

A gang of hardhat-wearing goblins in clubs strolled out, batting their weapons against their palms. (2,300/0)

"I know Gilfer's penalty, but it won't really matter in this case!" she continued. "Attack the Archfiend of Gilfer with Press Gang!"

As one, the goblins charged across the field, pummeling and bashing into the fiend with their metal clubs. Soon enough, they had it on the ground, but their attacks didn't let up until the monster shattered into a thousand pieces.

Soon enough, a burning red circle appeared on the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke's chest, and he staggered, lowering his sword. (2,600/1,000 - 2,100/1,000)

"I don't think I need to say it," Mi'Hen said as his Life Points clicked down to 21,700, "but the effect of my Archfiend turns it into an Equip Magic Card on any one monster. The monster it's equipped to loses 500 Attack Points... and I chose your ninja."

With a roll of her eyes, Laura muttered, "Thank you, Captain Obvious. Now, Sasuke, weakened or not, attack him directly! Lotus Petal Shadow Slash!"

Struggling, the ninja raised his blade and disappeared. Four of him charged down and sliced across the rich man, causing him to convulse for a moment as his Life Points dropped to 19,600.

_Well, it's a start,_ Laura thought. "Sasuke Samurai, you attack too."

There was a moment of silence as the little swordsman took a solid grip on his blade, and then he lashed out, appearing behind Mi'Hen. A second later, the attack took effect, and the opponent dropped to one knee, his Life Points at 19,100.

"That will be it for me," the young woman said to end the turn.

Chad shook his head, noting, "She might as well have not attacked for all the good that did. He's still got almost 20,000 Life Points to get through!"

"But I still can't fathom why he needs all those," Gerald said. He paused, and then added, "Except for one strategy, and he would have the money to build it..."

It was the easiest thing in the world for the rich man to shrug off Laura's attacks. He drew another card, making his hand seven cards, and then promptly began playing them. "I start this turn," Mi'Hen said, "by setting two cards facedown. Next, I'll play yet another of my prized possessions - it had a price tag of seven hundred euros, but it's worth every one of them. Meet my Cyber-Stein! Attack Mode!"

Ever since Boris Karloff, credited only as "Karloff", had played the role, the public image of Frankenstein's monster expected certain features on it. This one did not disappoint. It had the squarish head, the bolts in the neck, the odd stitching patterns... The only part that was out of place were the large gunbarrels on its back. (700/500)

"What does that do?" Laura asked. "I've never seen it in my life..."

"Come to think of it," Chad added, his head tilted, "neither have I. This is a new one to me..."

Gerald sighed. "I read about it in National Duelist two months ago. It's a rare and valuable card, more common in Europe than here - which is why he paid euros for it. By paying 5,000 Life Points, Mi'Hen can summon any Fusion Monster he wishes to the field. Unlike Magical Scientist or Summoner of Illusions, it has no restrictions on attacking and sticks around until it's dealt with..."

The rich man couldn't suppress an evil grin as he said, "This is the heart of my deck. It lets me summon the most powerful monster you'll ever see, just by paying slightly over a fourth of my Life Points. Cyber-Stein..." He extended a hand to the machine. "Let's do it!"

Steam poured from the Cyber-Stein's neck as it banged its chest with its hands. The two gunbarrels fired beams of brightly colored energy into the air as Mi'Hen's Life Points rolled down to 14,100. The energy twisted and warped, forming a portal over the head of both duelists.

As Laura braced herself, Gerald asked Chad, "What monster do you think he's retrieving?"

"If he wants raw Attack Points," the artist replied, "he'll go with a Master of Oz, like the one I use. If he needs a good effect, his best choice is the Cyber End Dragon. Most of the other really useful or powerful Fusion Monsters can't be summoned through effects like Cyber-Stein." He then chuckled. "There's one more powerful than either that _can_ be summoned that way, but there's no way he could have it..."

A very familiar head stuck out of the portal and roared. The head had blue eyes and white scales.

"Holy Zen, he DOES!" Chad yelled.

Laura let out a cry of shock, stumbling backwards as her holograms recoiled; both swordsmen raised their blades in self-defense, and the Goblin Attack Force spilled their beers in a rush to back away.

Gerald just stared, muttering, "It's not possible. Only one exists. He can't have it."

But despite their shock and disbelief, the monster emerged into the world, the portal closing behind it. Its body was enormous, blocking out the sun behind it. Tremendous wings further shadowed them, and its entire body was covered in shiny white scales. The presence of forelegs and back legs proved it was a true dragon, not a wyvern. Three heads glared down at them, blue eyes locked upon its pathetic opponents. The three heads roared their unearthly triumph. (4,500/3,800)

From beneath it, Mi'Hen spread out his gloved hands, laughing in uncontrollable glee. "Look at it!" he called. "Behold the most powerful, most expensive, and rarest card I'll ever play! Can you feel the adrenline in your blood just as you look at it? You don't stand a prayer, Miss Vesnic! Nothing ever does! Feel the power of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"How?" was all Laura could ask. "How did you get your hands on it? There's only one in the world!"

Mi'Hen shook his head. "Common misconception. The Blue Eyes White Dragon was so rare that those who got their hands on the fusion never played it. Because of this, slightly more survived - there are five Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragons in the world, as opposed to three Blue Eyes White Dragons.

"Currently, one of the five remaining Ultimate Dragons belongs to Seto Kaiba. Three are owned by private collectors around the world; I've met one, in Kinderdjik. And right now, you're looking at the fifth."

"Now that we know how you could get one, where'd you get it?" Gerald asked.

"Sotherbie's," came the answer. "A collector ran into tax problems, and had to liquidate all of his assets. This was one of them. I was so fortunate to be there that day... I narrowly outbid Ziegfried Von Schroder of Schroder Corp. for this beauty. It cost me five million dollars... But it was well worth it." The rich man looked down to his Duel Disk, a thin smile on his lips. "I spent a month trying to find a way to play this card instead of just sticking it in a safe somewhere. Finally I heard of the Cyber-Stein. Once I found one for sale, I snatched it up without even arguing over the price. This deck contains many rare and valuable cards, but the Ultimate Dragon is the showpiece."

Chad couldn't say anything; he was visibly moved by the story. Gerald, of course, didn't seem to care. And Laura thought, _I'd be more touched if that thing weren't trying to wipe me off the face of the planet..._

"But enough of my prattling," Mi'Hen said now. "My dragon must lay you to waste! To start with, Cyber-Stein, dispose of the Goblin Attack Force!"

Training its guns on the still-shocked goblins, the machine fired off two rounds. Two explosions followed, and the resulting cloud of smoke showed nothing left behind. Laura was still unable to concentrate.

"Now..." The rich man pointed to Laura, chuckling as he said, "I love saying this. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, take out the Sasuke Samurai with Neutron Blast!"

All three of the gigantic white heads whipped backwards, jaws wide open. A glimmering blue energy shot between the fangs, building up with a low whistle. The pitch of this whistle increased, eventually causing the onlookers to cover their ears. There was a snap as the three heads whipped forward, unleashing a combined beam of sheer energy...

Laura snapped out of her shock and yelled, "Activate Negate Attack!" As her trap flipped, the beam of energy simply dissipated before it could even touch her little samurai.

With a "hmph" noise, Mi'Hen crossed his arms, saying, "That will be my turn, then."

Taking a few deep breaths, Laura thought, _My deck was never built to deal with anything like that! As far as I know, Yugi Motoh's the only duelist who's ever overcome the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon - every other duelist that's faced it has fallen!_ She began to sweat, drawing her next card...

One of Mi'Hen's fingers hit a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my trap, Idle Rich!" he declared. One of his facedown cards flipped, revealing a picture of the Goblin of Greed lounging in front of a pile of money. "I can only use this card if I have more than 10,000 Life Points, and only on your Standby Phase. Now you can't play, set, or activate _any_ cards for the rest of your turn!"

A vein began to throb in Laura's forehead as she sweated even more. "I'll switch my monsters to Defense Mode and end my turn, then..." Both warriors knelt, quivering in fear as the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon glared upon them.

Snapping up his next card, Mi'Hen looked at it, snickering. "I'll sacrifice Cyber-Stein to summon yet another rarity, thought not nearly as rare as my centerpiece. Meet the Airknight Parshath, in Attack Mode..."

The Frankenstein's monster knelt and shattered, and the clouds parted overhead. A winged centaur flew down from the sky, his human half clad in blue armor and a priest's miter. He held a shining sword in one hand and a large steel shield in the other. The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon glared down at him, but he felt no fear. (1,900/1,400)

Chad tilted his head, thinking, _It's like the Light gave my Chiron a makeover..._

"A monster with those Attack Points can't be worth a tribute unless he has an effect," Gerald noted. "What's his?"

The rich man pushed his sunglasses back up. "Very simple - he inflicts damage through Defense Mode. Parshath! Attack the Sasuke Samurai with Caladbolg!"

Clashing his sword against his shield, the Airknight Parshath gallopped forward, all of his wings spreading. He cleaved through Laura's monster, and the sword bit into her in the process, making her gasp. For only the second time in the duel, her Life Points clicked down, stopping at 6,450.

"The other effect of Airknight Parshath allows me to draw a card," Mi'Hen noted. "Now, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon..." He grinned like the devil himself. "Take out the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke! Neutron Blast!"

Again, the dragon drew back its three heads, energy dancing within its jaws. This time, however, as the heads snapped forward and unleashed their nuclear-force blasts upon the ninja, nothing stopped it. The world turned white, and when the light faded, nothing was left.

"For my last move," Mi'Hen said, "I'll set one more card facedown. Your turn, Miss Vesnic."

Gerald raised an eyebrow, noting, "If that card is another Idle Rich, Laura's done for."

"Okay, with Airknight Parshath, anything in Defense Mode with less than 1,900 points is just damage in the making," Laura whispered to herself as she drew her next card. "But then again, anything with less than 4,500 Defense Points is dead anyway." She looked at her hand, and then smiled. "I'll set this card facedown and this monster in Defense Mode." The holograms came into being, and she said, "Now come at me, white-collar criminal!"

One of the rich duelist's fists clenched, and he shouted, "White-collar criminal? I'll have you know I make all of my money through legal means!" He drew a card, glaring at Laura, and then activated one of his facedown cards with a yell of, "I activate Meteorain!"

The trap flipped up, showing a picture of the Enraged Battle Ox in front of a meteor shower, and Gerald groaned. "There are so many cards I can never look at the same way again..."

"I know that one's effect," Laura said. "Ogre used it. For the rest of the turn, all of your monsters will have the same effect as the Airknight Parshath..."

Mi'Hen nodded, taking a card from his hand. "I set one monster in Defense Mode, and now... It's overkill, but attack that facedown monster with Neutron Blast, my mighty dragon!"

The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon charged up another burst of power. The heads snapped forward, pouring it at her...

"Activate Magic Cylinder!" Laura said in response, staring head-on into the beam of energy.

The mysterious cylinder floated in front of her, catching the blast. It then rotated, pointing its other end at Mi'Hen even as it shuddered from the contained power. After a moment, it fired, funneling the raw might of the Neutron Blast back towards its erstwhile controller. The force of the impact lifted Mi'Hen off his feet, sending him a good five feet through the air and into the street facefirst. His Life Points dropped down to 9,600.

"He's still over his orginal total," Gerald noted, "but now he can't use another Idle Rich."

Pulling himself to his feet, Mi'Hen looked down and saw a rent in his jacket. He cursed in language foul enough to knock low-flying planes from the sky. "Do you have any idea how much this suit cost?" he yelled at Laura. "Airknight Parshath, you hit her!"

Once again, the sword-wielding centaur galloped forward, slamming his sword down on Laura's monster... but this one, a woman in red armor, countered with her own blade. They fought for a moment, and then both stepped back, glancing to each other with mutual respect. (1,200/1,900)

"It's a tie," the young woman noted. "My Command Knight is an even match for your knight, so this fight's pretty much a wash."

Mi'Hen had developed an odd facial tic, but he was able to place a card into his Duel Disk. "I'll set this facedown and end my turn."

Although she'd landed a hit, Laura knew she was still in danger. She drew her next card, shook her head, and said, "I set another monster in Defense Mode, place another card facedown, and call that my turn."

There was a long pause, during which Mi'Hen took several deep breaths. Gerald and Chad wondered what was happening until the rich man dusted off the nonripped side of his jacket, drew a card, and then smiled. "I can't see a use for any of these cards," he said, "so I'll flip my Morphing Jar into Attack Mode."

Laura groaned as the wicked, one-eyed jar floated up, grinning like it had just heard a filthy joke. Both duelists discarded their hands and drew five cards, whereupon she thought, _I've got a perfect plan now!_

"Next," Mi'Hen said, gently pressing a button on his Duel Disk, "I'll activate my Trap Card, Unspeakable Cruelty." The card lifted up, revealing a picture of Ruin the Queen of Oblivion and Demise the King of Armageddon crushing the world between them. "For this card to work, I need a monster of over 3,000 Attack Points on the field, and I also need to tribute two other monsters."

There was a pause as Laura and her friends tried to work out what such a card could do, before Chad finally asked, "And?"

"And then one monster with over 3,000 Attack Points on my field may immediately make a direct attack."

There was another pause, this one shock, before Laura yelled, "Oh, God!"

Mi'Hen's facade of calm control evaporated, and he snarled as he declared, "So I'll give up the Airknight Parshath and Morphing Jar, and now... Disappear, trash! Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, bring her down with Neutron Blast!"

The centaur and the jar turned into black smoke, which the three-headed dragon inhaled. Its muscles bulged, and it clawed at the air for a moment before settling down. All three heads pulled back, and it took a long breath, sparks of white lightning gathering around its mouths. The beams charged up, energy crackling between its teeth, and then it fired, all three heads snapping forward and burning at him.

Laura tried to run, but there was no point. The blast of power slammed her into the street, pushing her on her back for several yards before leaving her in a small pile when it faded.

Gerald almost jumped out of his seat, but something inside of him remembered that, despite how it looked, all this was hologrammatic. He slowly sat down, unable to hide his despair.

Mi'Hen, on the other hand, had given up any trace of dignity. "You're gutter trash!" he screamed. "You always were and always will be! Learn to serve your superiors or just die!"

It was a long minute before Laura rose to her feet, swaying unsteadily. Her hand lay around her, and so she knelt to retrieve her cards, never looking at her Life Points, now down to 1,950. The back of her sweater had nearly torn off from her trip back-down along the street, and there was a rip in one pantsleg.

Back to his old self, Mi'Hen gave his opponent a condescending smile, holding up another card. "Due to the drawback of Unspeakable Cruelty, I have no Battle Phase this turn. But that won't stop me from playing Offerings to the Doomed, disposing of your Command Knight!"

Hundreds of bandages burst out from the street, grabbing hold of the Command Knight's limbs. She struggled for a moment, but then the ground fell away beneath her, and she sank out of sight. Laura didn't seem to notice.

"I'll end my turn with one monster in Defense Mode, as if I need it," the rich man concluded. "Whatever you think you can do about this, Miss Vesnic, you're wrong. This duel is done with."

Deep inside Laura's head, she was trying her hardest to convince herself Mi'Hen was wrong. She was failing. Her enthuasiasm before the blast hadn't survived the brief sojourn she'd taken down the road. Her hand hovered over her deck...

...and then she looked to Gerald, who looked back at her in concern. He still sat there, hands over his knees, in his gray shirt and jacket and gray-with-blue pants. Even with his worry, he still looked like he could fall asleep any minute.

Something about that made her current situation seem far less dangerous, and so Laura smiled and drew her next card. Once it was in her hand, her plan came back to her, and she thought, _If he has a Judgment of Anubis, I'm doomed, but otherwise I can solve my problems right now!_ "I play The Warrior Returning Alive," she began, "returning Sasuke Samurai to my hand."

The superdeformed swordsman appeared on her field, shaking his head. He then walked up to Laura and disappeared as he returned to her hand.

"Next," she continued, "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Astral Barrier!" She crossed her fingers.

The wind picked up, blowing the cuffs of Mi'Hen's pants and the other three duelists's hair every which way, and then a sharp gust struck Mi'Hen's trap, breaking it apart. The rich man stamped his foot, thinking, _If I'd hit that "buy it now" button last month I'd have had a Judgment of Anubis to deal with this!_

Chad thought for a second, and then shook his head and asked, "Why'd she do that?"

"I think she has a way to deal with the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon," Gerald replied, "but if that trap was still around, Mi'Hen could save it just by directing all attacks on it to himself. And he has the Life Points to survive it."

Letting out a relieved sigh, Laura went on, "Now I play Book of Moon, turning your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to facedown Defense Mode."

The dragon let out a confused roar right before it disappeared, replaced by a facedown hologram. Mi'Hen, knowing full well what Laura had in her hand, began to sweat.

"Now I'll summon Sasuke Samurai again," Laura added, "and activate my trap, Call of the Haunted, bringing back my Command Knight in Attack Mode."

Once again, the warrior with the oversized head walked out, blade at the ready. (500/800 - 900/800) Meanwhile, the dust stirred up beside him, and the red-clad female knight rose from the ground, stumbling as a nasty case of rigor mortis wore off. The Sasuke Samurai caught her, and she smiled at him. (1,200/1,900 - 1,600/1,900)

"Finally," the young woman concluded, "I'll switch Sasuke Samurai #3 into Attack Mode. Now all three of my monsters benefit from Command Knight's effect, granting them 400 Attack Points!"

Another member of the Sasuke family appeared next to the first, this one wielding twin knives and wearing a green fringed jacket. He waved to the Command Knight, who blushed in response. (1,000/1,000 - 1,400/1,000)

"Let's start the stampede," Laura said now. "Sasuke Samurai, dispatch the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Hyper-Velocity Wakazashi!"

Drawing his blade, the samurai took a step back. He then blurred forward, appearing on the other side of the facedown monster with his sword extended. The monster revealed itself as the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and a long line appeared down its central head. The side heads roared in agony as it split down the middle, shattering into ten thousand pieces.

Mi'Hen let out a cry of shock, sinking to one knee as tears rolled from under his sunglasses. "This... can't... happen..." he groaned.

"It just did. Now, Command Knight, attack his facedown monster!"

The red-armored knight leapt forward, her sword a streak of fire as she slashed through the facedown monster. A tiny snake hissed and exploded. (300/250)

"A Sinister Serpent?" Chad said, amused. "Everyone and his brother has one of those!"

Still weeping over the loss of his dragon, Mi'Hen managed to say, "Some cards in this deck are just good..."

All Laura could do at that point was shrug. "Now, Sasuke Samurai #3, attack him directly with Ronin's Tanto!"

Taking a moment to tug up his jacket, the ronin jumped forward, blades flashing as he repeatedly stabbed Mi'Hen in the gut. The rich man fell over, the shock of impact causing him to stop crying even as his Life Points hit 7,200.

"Now, due to his effect," she noted, "you draw your hand up to seven cards."

As Mi'Hen did it, he glared at her through his sunglasses, tripping his facedown card. "Reckless Greed makes that nine," he said, "and its drawback doesn't mean much, since Offerings to the Doomed keeps me from drawing next turn anyway." He drew two extra cards and tucked them into his hand.

"After this momentous turn," Laura said, now smirking, "I'll end with a card facedown. Your move."

Mi'Hen took a moment to get back onto his feet, muttering, "I skip the Draw Phase..."

"...and in your Standby Phase, I activate Heavy Slump!" Laura shouted. "Because you have more than eight cards in your hand, I can force you to shuffle your hand back into your deck and draw two cards!"

"Ouch," Chad noted. "That's probably his biggest fear outside Duel Monsters..."

The rich man's arms fell by his sides, and his cards scattered from his hand. (Gerald winced at that - most of those cards were probably worth more than the contents of his deck, excluding Heaven's Sphere.) He gathered them up, slid them into his deck, and drew twice, lip quivering. However, there was a flicker of light as his Sinister Serpent returned to his hand.

With a glance to his hand, he cursed and said, "I pass; nothing I do could save me."

Laura drew and smiled, declaring, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Mode!"

The heavily armored warrior emerged, the blades on his arms shining as he moved into place. Command Knight raised her sword to him, and he saluted her as he took the position. (1,800/1,600 - 2,200/1,600)

"Now," Laura continued, "I'll play Pure Might on Gearfried. At the cost of one card from my hand, in this case Sasuke Samurai #2, the card grants him 800 Attack Points and erases his effects!"

Blue lightning crackled along the Iron Knight's armor, and he let out a triumphant battlecry. (2,200/1,600 - 3,000/1,600)

"Hold it," Mi'Hen noted. "The Iron Knight's effect should have destroyed that card before it could negate his effect..."

Laura shook her head. "The effects of Equip Magic cards take effect before he destroys them; it's just that, in most cases, he destroys them before it matters. Not this one."

Gerald yawned, and Chad leaned foward in his seat.

"Finally," she concluded, "I'll play the last card in my hand - Axe of Despair, on Gearfried!"

A hideous axe appeared in Gearfried's hand, and he spun it around himself, the air whistling around the blade. (3,000/1,600 - 4,000/1,600)

The rich man backed away, and then took off running, only to run into a blur in the air and have a gun shoved in his face.

"Take this one like a man," Hanzaki said, "or you'll be the richest cadaver in the world."

Turning around, Mi'Hen shivered as he returned to the duel. He shut his eyes and spread his arms.

"Okay, guys... Sasuke Samurai, you go first. Then Command Knight, Sasuke Samurai #3 after her, and Gearfried the Iron Knight lands the killing blow." Laura paused, and shouted, "Charge!"

The superdeformed swordsman drew his blade, stepped forward, and slashed along Mi'Hen's stomach, causing him to let out a whoosh of air as his Life Points hit 6,300. Next, the Command Knight sprang forward and slashed him with her burning sword, making him yell as his Life Points hit 4,700. The Sasuke Samurai #3 stabbed him several times, making him shout, "Ow, ow, GAH!" as his Life Points landed at 3,300.

Finally, Gearfried walked forward, the Axe of Despair over one shoulder. Mi'Hen would have fled, but he could sense Hanzaki's gun still pointed at the back of his head. The two stared at each other, and then Gearfried shook his head and walked away. Even as his Life Points hit zero (a refused attack still being an attack), the rich man couldn't help but feel insulted.

Tapping his gun against his palm, Hanzaki turned Mi'Hen to face him and said, "The bosses would like a word with you."

The rich man could merely sigh as the Lycra-clad man made an obscure gesture with one hand, and then the air blurred and they disappeared.

Once the two were gone, Chad nudged Gerald's ribs, waking the sleeping young man from his doze. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs, looking to where Laura stood, the back of her sweater hanging from the armpits, revealing the back of her bra and a number of deep scars around her spine. Both men frowned.

Laura shut down her Duel Disk, and only then realized the state of her clothing. She blushed a deep red, reaching behind herself and lifting the torn segment of her top to its rent remainder, as if hoping to will her sweater back together.

As she did this, though, Gerald rose to his feet, dusting off the legs of his pants. He slid his jacket off, moved up to Laura, and slid it onto her. It was a size or two too large, but the garment accomplished its purpose. All the girl could do was pull it tight and smile.

Watching from his seat on the steps, Chad smiled as well, thinking, _It looks like Gerald's clothing isn't the only set at risk in this city._ He then frowned, thinking, _It's not really fair. I've gone through this entire ordeal untouched. It makes a man feel rather unnecessary. Damn it, what's my purpose? Will I ever get an answer to that question?_

He shook himself out of his naval-gazing for the time being, hearing Laura ask Gerald, "Can I resume my workout now?"

The lazy young man went pale, and then replied, "All right... but I'm still not up to watching it."

**0000000**

As if he hadn't suffered enough indignities, Mi'Hen found himself flung facefirst onto a large chalk circle, getting some of its dust on his jacket and scuffing his shoes. He struggled to his feet, retrieving his hat and putting it back on.

"Mi'Hen Andrew Galloway O'Connell," a cold voice said. The rich man looked around himself, and saw Degas and Alexander step from the darkness outside of the circle. "I'm afraid you haven't filled your end of the contract," Degas continued.

Shaking his head, Mi'Hen looked at his employers, muttering, "I still get the money, right? You said you'd pay me, win or lose. I might have lost, but breach of contract is a serious crime..."

"Like we care?" Alexander replied. "We have, in fact, transferred the money into your account. However, nothing says you get to use it."

The rich man froze, and then began to chuckle. "I'm too famous," he said. "You can't just dispose of me. I'll be missed..."

The next words out of Degas's mouth brought the rich man's laughter to a dead halt: "Hanzaki? Get the jar."

Around Mi'Hen's feet, the chalk circle began to glow, dark energy crackling from it. He looked to Alexander, and saw not only that one of the man's bare feet was on the edge of the circle, but he didn't look very happy as the energy flowed.

Hanzaki arrived, opening the jar, and Mi'Hen realized money was the least of his concerns. Then the pain kicked in, and his shades hit the ground and shattered as he screamed.

**0000000**

With the completion of Laura's workout, the three duelists gathered in front of their car, discussing their next destination.

"I say we go Downtown," Gerald said. "It's just on the other end of this neighborhood."

"Any specific reason?" Laura asked, doing her cooldown stretches as she spoke.

"If the majority of this city's population is Darkness Infected, they need to be hidden somewhere. There aren't that many places to hide a mass of humanity in the Twin Cities, so we only have a few places to check. The Xcel Energy Center is downtown; it's a fairly large place, and would be one of my first choices if I needed to hide a major city's worth of people."

Chad nodded. "You've got a good point. Get in."

As the three climbed back into their car, Gerald spared the graffiti of the Balance one last look, thinking, _DI... The opposite of chaos is order. But if the Balance is the heart of everything... DI... If I'm right, what does that mean for everything?_

A moment later, the Corolla GTS drove out of the neighborhood, leaving only a few scorchmarks and several scattered threads as evidence they were ever there.

**0000000**

It so happened that Lucifer wasn't in the Downtown area before Gerald's party was. In fact, he was in the West Side (which was on the east side of town - its name referred to its position on the Mississippi River), sipping some very poor wine and looking out over the water.

_This is why I'm so grateful that I came from France,_ the Beloved of Fire thought (in French) as he took another sip._ The entire country has an attitude problem, but at least they don't try to pass off swill as vintage. It almost spoils the beauty of the view._

Before he could take another sip, a sensation shot through his frame, and he dropped the glass. "Is zat..." He paused, taking a deep breath, and then the sensation hit him again. "It is! What I have searched for... zere it is!"

Lucifer rose from the ground, fire dancing around the base of his feet. _How could it hide from me for so long?_ he thought. _I've looked long and hard for it, and it was never there... but now it's in the open. Did it hide from me? How?_ He then shook his head. _It doesn't matter. I've found it! Now to reclaim it!_

He flew off towards the downtown, a streak of fire in the sky.

**GLORY OF THE KING'S HAND**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A massive, wondrous pile of gold, jewelry, and gems.

Effect: You may only activate this card during your Main Phase 1. Draw cards from your deck until you have six cards in your hand. For each card drawn, you gain 1,000 Life Points. After this effect resolves, end your turn. This card may only be activated once per duel, whether or not the effect successfully resolves.

**IDLE RICH**

Type: Normal Trap Card

Image: The Goblin of Greed, lounging around in front of a giant pile of dollar bills and money bags.

Effect: You may only activate this card if you have 10,000 or more Life Points, and only during your opponent's Standby Phase. Until the end of their turn, your opponent may not play, Set, or activate any cards.

**UNSPEAKABLE CRUELTY**

Type: Normal Trap Card

Image: Ruin the Queen of Oblivion and Demise the King of Armageddon, crushing the Earth between their hands.

Effect: Select a monster you control with 3000 or more ATK points. Tribute two monsters you control other than the selected monster. The selected monster may attack your opponent's Life Points directly. No other monster you control may attack on the turn this card is activated.

_Coming next chapter: The Darkness gives Gerald and his allies a break for now, and they take advantage of it to rest. Chad, however, soon finds himself in battle once again. This time, his opponent is a girl who can't quite let go of her childhood - not that she would ever want to. Which is stronger, the beasts of the wild or the power of youth? Find out in Chapter Nineteen, "Dangerous Attraction"..._


	20. Dangerous Attraction

_**When I first started playing Duel Monsters, I did so for the fun of it. Nobody warned me it would someday be a matter of life and death, and to be honest, I'm really tired of it being such. I haven't dueled once in the last three days without something truly important being at stake.**_

_**This next duel, thankfully, gives me a chance to put things back into perspective. As far as I can tell, my opponent isn't a Darkness Infected, isn't working directly for Degas and Alexander, and doesn't plan on shooting me if I lose. She's just a girl who likes the game and wants to go up against me.**_

_**Of course, there's something strange about her, but that's more a matter of what she's like. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it...**_

**Chapter Nineteen: Dangerous Attraction**

The section of city that St. Paul called its downtown had its share of problems even before the Darkness Infection materialized. Among others, it labored under the shadow of its far more prosperous neighbor, downtown Minneapolis. As a result, it seemed somehow weaker, somehow less vital than it should have. Economically, it struggled to stay alive.

None of this mattered to Gerald's party, however, as only one thing concerned them at the moment: that the Darkness Infected were out of the region. With that being the case, the demonic city of Pandemonium would have seemed attractive.

Chad had parked the car within sight of the Xcel Energy Center - in the name of artistry, he'd done so directly under a "No Parking" sign. It had taken an act of will to resist Laura's suggestion that they park the Corolla on the sidewalk; after all, there weren't any cops in this city anymore. (Gerald had finally awoken long enough to point out the damage to the car inherent in parking it like that.)

In order to mentally recharge after the battle with Mi'Hen, the group was divided: Chad took off down the sidewalk for whatever purpose, while Gerald and Laura stopped at a nearby gaming store called Scry. It was easy to tell the place was open; a large sign hung from the door, declaring, "We are open. For the love of God, please come in!"

The layout reminded Gerald of every such store he'd ever shopped in - to his left, on a series of wall-mounted shelving, sat RPG books (the Elemental Heroes RPG had released its latest supplement the week before, covering Dark World); to his right was a bargain bin for packs of old or out-of-print card games, next to which were several boxes of "five for a buck" commons. In one corner there were several deserted gaming tables, and the counter (with all the rare and expensive cards under glass) was in the other corner. The walls on either side were covered with the current card games - of course, almost all of the left-hand wall was devoted to Duel Monsters and/or Dungeon Dice Monsters.

"Do we have money?" Laura asked, her hands in the jacket pockets.

In response, Gerald fished a large roll of bills out of his pocket. "A gift from Lucifer when we got here," he said. "All we've spent it on is food, so there's still quite a bit left. Don't go insane, but feel free to look around."

The redhead grinned, moved up to the counter, and leaned on it, looking over the possibilities.

"Please don't lean on the counter," came a voice from the backroom. Its source stepped out: a tall man in early middle age, with dark hair and a thin beard, wearing a red sweater and dark jeans. "I'm glad to have customers in a time like this, but we do have regulations here."

Laura stepped back, nodding. "Understood, sir."

"Call me Geoff, everyone else does. Well, they would if there was anyone else here. The Darkness Infection took out my consumer base - you have no idea how glad I am to see someone."

Gerald moved up to the counter, hands in his pants pockets, and studied one card under the glass. Finally, he asked, "This one card... it's priced far under its rarity. Why is that?"

Looking to the source of Gerald's interest, Geoff slumped. "The more I try to sell that card, the worse it gets," he replied. "Nobody can ever find a use for it! I'm this close to just throwing it into the commons box and hoping someone takes a chance..."

The lazy young man shut his eyes, thinking for a moment, and then shuffled over to the commons box. His fingers flipped through the box for a moment, until he'd retrieved two specific cards. He moved up to the counter, tossed his finds onto it, and said, "Add these to it and I'll take it."

Geoff barely hesitated before taking the card under discussion from the counter and saying, "Sold!" He placed it next to Gerald's selections.

As the two men worked out a deal, Laura slid her viewpoint along the other cards on display. After a few minutes, her gaze fell onto two specific cards and her heart nearly stopped beating.

Amid the other cards for sale sat two cards familiar to every duelist: the Black Luster Ritual and its partner, the Black Luster Soldier. Ever since Duelist Kingdom, tales of those two had circulated throughout the duelist circuit. And there they were, in a display counter in the heart of St. Paul.

_Yugi Motoh's cards..._ Laura thought. _They don't quite fit the theme, but... but there they are. I could always use another heavy hitter to go with Zombyra and the Master of Chains, and... well, it's the Black Luster Soldier!_ She pointed to them and said, "I'll take these."

Geoff turned, saw what she was pointing to, and recoiled. "I can't sell you those!"

"Then why are they on display?" Laura said, raising an eyebrow. "Are they fakes or what?"

"I assure you they're real, miss," the shop owner said, leaning against a wall and lowering his head. "I keep them on display because... well, they're the Black Luster Soldier and his ritual, how better to show off what this store can get? But I can't sell them to anyone - I wouldn't dare!"

Confused, Laura asked, "Why not? You haven't answered my question..."

By this time, however, Gerald had moved over to that part of the counter. He passed his hand over the cards and stepped back, Heaven's Sphere shining in his pocket. "Those cards are cursed," he muttered.

Geoff nodded. "You've heard of them?"

"No... I can just feel it."

"Well, you're right," the shop owner continued. "They're wonderful cards, but every last one of the Black Luster Soldiers are bewitched! Everyone who's ever played one has run into unspeakable bouts of bad luck, which is even worse for a duelist than a normal person..." He sighed. "The one you're looking at there came into my possession when its last owner rushed in, nervous and panicking, and begged me to buy it and its ritual. He didn't even haggle over the price.

"I looked into the background of this set, and it proved to be disturbing. Before the last owner had them, this Black Luster Ritual and Black Luster Soldier had passed between seven different owners. Each of them suffered a horrible run of luck while they owned the cards - and their first owner was killed in a car crash the week after he obtained them. Just before he sold me the cards, their last owner had lost in the first round of a local tournament... on the third turn of the duel. He'd drawn the Black Luster Soldier just before the kill move hit.

"Since I haven't played the cards myself, my own luck is unaffected... if you don't count the Darkness Infection. But I can't sell them in good conscience." He sighed again. "I don't want to think of what would happen to you with the city the way it is now."

Laura stumbled away from the case, not even daring to look at the cards. "So how did Yugi Motoh play them without any problems?" she asked.

Shaking his head, Geoff replied, "Who knows? Maybe he found a way around the curse; maybe it was that shiny metal thing around his neck. All I know is that nobody else can play the Black Luster Soldier without the bad luck hitting them. I heard of one guy who took his card, locked it in an iron box, buried it in a churchyard, and sowed the ground with salt - just to be sure!"

During Geoff's speech, Gerald leaned on the wall, eyes shut and hand to his chin. Finally, he looked to Laura, then looked to Geoff, and then said, "I have an idea. Take the cards out and hand them to her. I believe I have something in my possession that will break the curse."

"Are you sure about this?" Geoff asked, beginning to sweat.

"Trust me. This is a relatively minor darkness compared to what I've seen so far."

Letting out his breath, the shop owner unlocked the counter, slid it open, and took out the Black Luster Ritual and Black Luster Soldier. As he gave them to Laura, Gerald moved over to the tables, turned a chair around, and sat down.

"Now, Laura, place the Black Luster Soldier, Black Luster Ritual, Zombyra the Dark and Master of Chains on the top of your deck," Gerald ordered, searching through his deck and placing three cards on the top.

Laura began to catch on, and did as he ordered, thinking, This should be interesting.

Activating his Duel Disk, Gerald pressed a button by the Life Point counter, watching the numbers roll down. "Set your Life Points to 1,000."

In response, Laura activated her own Duel Disk, setting the Life Point counter. A ring of light began to form around them.

"Let the ritual battle begin," Gerald said, and the Life Point counters locked at 1,000. "Laura, take the first move."

As the duel commenced, a series of lines shot from point to point within the circle of light, forming a pattern close to but recognizably different from what the duelists knew as a Dark Duel. Geoff edged away, confused but not about to question the goings-on.

Laura drew her opening hand, which, of course, contained the cards she'd put on the top of her deck. She paused, and then realized what Gerald wanted. "I summon Zombyra the Dark in Attack Mode," she began.

The monster hero leapt down from the ceiling, but he looked far less confidant than usual. He glanced over his shoulder to Laura, and then down to the ring of light, visibly shivering. (2,100/900)

"Now I end my turn," the young woman continued.

Gerald drew, took a card from his hand, and set it onto his disk. "I summon Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode."

The light swelled, and the snail/slug creature bubbled into view, tracing the lines with its tendrils. (700/500) Zombyra bowed to it, sweating even more.

"I will end my turn," the young man stated.

Laura drew, took a card from her hand, and slid it into her Duel Disk, declaring, "As per its effect, I discard one card from my hand to Normal Summon the Master of Chains in Attack Mode."

In front of Laura, the air began to flux and warp, finally ejecting the Master of Chains. He adjusted the sleeves of his shirt, and then began to look around himself, a confused and frightened expression on his face. (1,600/300)

"Now..." Laura paused for effect, and then held up the Ritual Magic card. "I'll play the Black Luster Ritual, offering Zombyra and the Master of Chains as tributes. Together, they fulfill the eight-star requirement, allowing me to summon the Black Luster Soldier!"

The altar with its crossed blades and shield appeared before the duelists, twin fires roaring in the braziers on either side of its base. For a moment, the fires died, and Laura's monsters stepped onto the braziers, arms crossed before them. The fires sprang up again, consuming them utterly, and then the fires died once more, leaving the arena dark but for the lines of light at their feet.

From the shadows emerged a man in armor, who took one of the blades and the shield from over the altar; the other blade vanished. His armor was a shining black metal, with a red gem on the chest and the seams lined with gold. His face was barely visible under the helmet, which was modeled after the head of a dragon; cold blue eyes shone from underneath, and whether that was a red tuft or a ponytail on the back of the helmet was unclear. His blade had a notch in the center, but the light made it clear it was sharp the entire way along. The Black Luster Soldier smiled and raised his blade. (3,000/2,500)

"I end my turn with that," Laura then announced, and the monster looked stunned.

Gerald drew again, saying, "I will now sacrifice my Servant of Catabolism to summon Heaven's Sphere."

The bizarre mollusk-creature rose from the ground, glowing brightly. As with each time the Sphere was called upon, the orb solidified, revealing the shining globe and its calming aura. A twisted smile crossed the Black Luster Soldier's face at the sight of it. (2,000/1,000)

"Since I have at least 1,000 Life Points," Gerald declared, "I can use my monster's effect. By paying half of that, I can double its Attack Points for the duration of the turn. This I shall now do."

Gerald's Life Points fell to 500, and the aura around the Heaven's Sphere intensified, making it hard for Geoff to look at it. (2,000/1,000 - 4,000/1,000)

"Heaven's Sphere," the young man ordered, "destroy the Black Luster Soldier and obliterate his curse with your Light of Justice."

A dot appeared on the front of the globe, growing in size as the Heaven's Sphere drew in power and light. It took aim at the Black Luster Soldier, preparing to fire.

To Laura's surprise, her monster didn't show any fear. In fact, he dropped his sword, threw aside his shield, and stepped forward, arms stretched at his sides, as if welcoming the purifying beam of light. His eyes shut, and he smiled wide.

A second later, the Heaven's Sphere fired its beam of light. The beam didn't make contact with the Black Luster Soldier at first - it hit a massive shroud of darkness that came into being around him. The beam continued to burn, however, forcing its way through the darkness (which both duelists realized was the curse made manifest). Finally, part of the shroud burned away, and the beam made contact with Laura's monster.

And then the Black Luster Soldier laughed, and he continued to laugh as the beam wiped him off the face of the earth. The shroud of darkness exploded into fragments and wisps, and Laura's Life Points hit zero, ending the battle.

The circle of light disappeared, and for a moment there was only silence. This was broken when Gerald began to snore, his head slumped onto his chest. The shop owner finally rose from behind his counter (where he'd dropped just before Heaven's Sphere attacked), pointing to Gerald and asking, "Is he always like that?"

"I've seen him stay awake twice," Laura replied. "Otherwise, it's a reflex for him." She walked up and gently patted her friend on the cheek.

With a few quick blinks, Gerald shook his head, yawning. "That should have dealt with the curse."

"How can we be sure?" Laura asked.

The lazy young man shut his eyes (Laura holding onto his hair so that he wouldn't doze off), thought for a moment, and then said, "Shuffle the Black Luster Soldier and the Black Luster Ritual into your deck, along with the Master of Chains and Zombyra. Keep shuffling until you're sure the cards are mixed, and then deal out your deck."

Although she wasn't sure what he was up to, Laura did as Gerald asked, adding the cards back to her deck and shuffling for a good minute. She then took the deck, turned it bottom-card-up, and spread it out on the counter.

Geoff and Laura both stared. The Black Luster Soldier was in the dead center of her deck... flanked by Zombyra and the Master of Chains. The Black Luster Ritual, meanwhile, was a few cards down, the four Sasuke Samurai monsters surrounding it.

Rising from his chair, Gerald strolled up to the counter, admired the arrangement, and said, "The cards you hold dearest are surrounding them. I'd say that's a good sign the curse is gone." He then looked to Laura. "Wouldn't you?"

Laura nodded and then asked Geoff, "How much again?"

"No charge."

Taken aback, she said, "Are you sure?"

The shop owner took a deep breath, replying, "Until today, I thought those cards would just sit in the display case until the end of time. But now... If those cards really are safe again, I have no right to charge you for them; after all, you're the ones who made them safe. In a way, they were yours to begin with."

"Thank you," Laura said, gathering her deck together and putting it back in her Duel Disk. She then paused, looked at another card in the case, and pointed to it, asking, "Is that one cursed?"

Looking into the counter, Geoff shook his head. "Not that I know of."

The redhead smiled. "I'll take that one... and this one I don't mind paying for."

**0000000**

While Gerald and Laura were in the store, Chad was a block down the street, wandering along the sidewalk with his head down. He moved with long sweeps of his feet, as if he'd thrown his entire body into the same aimless funk as his life.

He stopped in front of a music store, raising his head and glancing through the windows. The store was abandoned, as were its neighbors on either side, but the door was wide open. Apparently, someone was inside.

Curiosity overtook self-preservation, and Chad headed inside. There wasn't anyone there, as far as he could tell, but a violin sat on the counter, its bow atop it. Someone had just rosined the bow not too long before.

The tall young man couldn't resist. He took off his Duel Disk and set it down, picked up the instrument along with the bow, and then paused. _I wish I'd had time to practice,_ he thought. _I've been playing the thing since my sixth birthday, but with all that's gone on in the past week, I'm a little out of touch._ He set his fingers to the strings, tucked the body under his chin, adjusted his head to the chinrest, and carefully tuned the violin to G-D-A-E.

"Sonata Number One for Solo Violin, First Movement, J.S. Bach," he said to no one. With that, he set the bow to the strings, sat on the counter, and began to play.

Between his own rusty skills and the quality of the instrument before him, Chad didn't expect virtuoso performance. And for the first few notes, the only word to describe the music would be "deplorable", or perhaps "abysmal". But as the song went on, he found the old skills returning to him, and discovered just what the violin in his hands was capable of. He shut his eyes, grinned, and pressed on, generating a melody that did its composer proud.

By the time the song was over, Chad was relieved - he'd found something to justify his existence, if not his presence. He then heard someone clapping, set the violin down, and opened his eyes.

The applause was coming from a young woman, apparently the one who'd broken into the shop, if Chad had to guess. She had light olive skin and long, shiny black hair, and although her eyes were closed at the moment he thought they'd take up half her face once she opened them. She couldn't be more than nineteen, and there was something about her that made her youth all the more obvious. She wore a short-sleeved white blouse and a long, frilly white skirt with lace on the hem. It occurred to Chad that the girl (somehow, calling her a young woman didn't work) resembled a human-sized doll; he would've sworn one of his cousins had owned a doll just like her.

The girl stopped applauding and opened her eyes; as Chad had thought, they were incredibly large, and had that indefinite color you could only describe as "dark". "That was amazing!" she said, her voice registering a European accent he couldn't quite place. "I mean, I've played the violin since I was five, but I could never get it to sound like that, and don't think I didn't try!"

"How old are you?" Chad asked.

"I'm nineteen, why do you need to know?"

He smirked. "I'm twenty-two and I've played it since I was six. There's your answer - I have two years more experience at it."

After a moment to think about it, the girl nodded repeatedly. "You're probably right, but I'm gonna go with my first answer..." She smiled wide. "You're just better than I am! By the way, before we go any further, my name's Vivienne!"

_No last name?_ Chad thought. "My name is Chad Montmelier. Call me Chad. Why are you in town?"

"This reason, that reason, any reason, no reason. Take your pick." Vivienne smiled again, putting her hands behind her back. "And why are you here? Anyone who could got out of Dodge at the first opportunity. By Dodge I mean the Twin Cities."

It took Chad a few seconds to work out what she'd said. "I'm here for the same reason everyone else ran. My friends and I think we can destroy the Darkness Infection, so it wouldn't be the best idea to leave before that's done."

Vivienne tilted her head, her body tilting in the same direction. "And how're you going to do that? I don't think you're the magicial equivalent of the CDC. Are you carrying a giant shot of mystical penicillin or something?"

"You could say that," Chad replied, "except we are the syringes. At the moment, we're trying to find the guys who did this." No need to tell you just how lost we are, Chad thought.

For a moment, the girl looked confused, and then she giggled. "However it works, I'm fine with it!" she said. "But then again, when haven't I? My brothers used to say I'm the most agreeable person on the face of the earth, and I agree with them." She then looked past Chad to his Duel Disk and smiled wider. "Is that your Duel Disk or did you steal it from someone else? If you did, I'm fine with _that._"

There was something about Vivienne that was royally confusing the artist, and he was starting to like it despite himself. He replied, "Yes, it's my Duel Disk. Long story, but it's part of how my friends and I are taking care of the Darkness Infection."

"Who knew? Duel Monsters is a pastime, a magical cure-all, and a dessert topping!" Bouncing on her heels (Chad noted she was wearing white dress shoes), Vivienne asked, "Can you duel me? There just aren't too many good opponents now that everyone's disappeared."

The artist gave the proposal much thought. He knew next to nothing about this girl other than she was Gerald's complete opposite in every way, and anyone could be the next specialist. On the other hand, it was entirely possible that her hyperactivity was just the way she always was, in which case he could use a duel without any win-or-die conditions. "Deal," he finally said.

He was unprepared for the crushing-strength hug Vivienne inflicted on him immediately afterward. "YAY! YAY!" she cried as she nearly broke Chad's spine. "Just bring me that white bag from behind the counter and I'll be right outside!" She let him go, allowing Chad to resume normal breathing, and dashed out of the building fast enough to leave a smoke trail.

At this point, Chad considered sneaking out the back of the music store and running away, but he decided against it. He put his own Duel Disk back on, picked up the aforementioned bag, and headed out onto the sidewalk.

**0000000**

As he stepped out of the store, Chad noticed that Gerald and Laura had just arrived; Gerald was leaning against a wall, eyes closed, and Laura stood next to him, gaping open-mouth at Vivienne. Since Vivienne was, for lack of a better term, gamboling about the sidewalk, Chad could fully understand the other woman's confusion.

Setting the bag down, Chad said, "Here you go, Vivienne." He then stepped back in case of any more hugs.

The girl stepped forward, took the bag, and stepped back, opening it. It was filled with deck cases, which she sorted through while talking to herself. She was grumbling, "Armors are old-fashioned, Kuribohs I've played too many times, flip-effects are too tricky, equips are clumsy and not subtle enough... Ah, here we go!" She held up one case in particular, smiling wide. "The perfect deck!"

Rather than make a comment, Chad activated his Duel Disk, asking, "Where's your disk?"

Vivienne tilted her head, and then snapped her fingers. She reached into the bag again, taking out a pink bead, and threw it in the air, saying, "Spirits of the dreaming world, bring my Duel Disk to me..."

The bead hovered in midair, and then began to spin. As it spun, an outline of a Duel Disk faded into view around it, slowly filling in over the space of several seconds. In due time, the bead fell from the sky and into Vivienne's bag, and she caught the completed Duel Disk, strapping it to her arm.

Gerald blinked a few times before saying, "Impressive ability. Where'd you learn it?"

"My dad taught it to me," the girl replied, sliding her deck into the proper slot and activating the Duel Disk. "He taught me a lot of nifty magic tricks, but I'm not allowed to use most of them except in emergencies." She giggled, causing Laura to clench both fists. "I really don't think you're the sort of guy who would ever qualify."

Chad nodded, replying, "At least not the sort of emergency that would require magical aid. As far as dueling goes... depends on your skills. Ready?"

When he said that, Vivienne suddenly looked distracted, glancing skywards. "Ummm, just a sec..." She closed her eyes, brow furrowing as if in deep thought, and then smiled, opened her eyes, and declared, "Let's duel!"

Both Life Point counters set themselves to 8,000.

**0000000**

A fireball burned its way through the skies over downtown St. Paul. Its flight suddenly became erratic, weaving through the air, before it finally settled on the roof of a Burger King, melting the siding. There was a flash, and Lucifer Allumette appeared with his chin in his hand, a perplexed expression on his face.

"Zat spell," he thought aloud "It's a Dream obscuring spell, designed to keep ze user from being found. Zat's how zey managed to keep zemselves hidden so long..."

He then chuckled. "Nice try, but at zis range, it's barely better zan a hazy day when it comes to cover. And besides, a spell's teacher can poke zrough it without a second try - and who do you zink taught you zat spell, hmmm?"

Spreading his arms, Lucifer became the ball of fire once again, launching himself into the sky.

**0000000**

"You made the challenge," Chad told Vivienne, "so you can go first."

Drawing her opening hand, the girl said, "Thanks!" She looked at her cards, and then said, "I'll start by summoning Toy Soldier in Attack Mode!"

A wooden toy soldier appeared on the field, carrying a gun and dressed in full field regalia. It would have looked more impressive if it weren't for its lack of a face other than two dot eyes. (800/300)

"Next," she continued, "I'll set two cards facedown." Both concealed holograms appeared in front of the girl, and she raised her hand in front of her mouth, fluttering her eyes at Chad. "Your turn..."

One of Laura's eyes began to twitch, and Gerald sighed, saying, "Please remember that inflicting harm on Vivienne would count as interference."

As Chad drew his own opening hand, he thought, _I'm fairly sure flirting with your opponent is an illegal move, but I can't bring myself to complain._ He thought for a moment, and then declared, "I'll start with Pitch-Black Warwolf in Attack Mode!"

A snarling, sword-bearing lycanthrope marched onto Chad's field, his rage barely suppressed. He hungrily eyed Vivienne's soldier, which raised its gun and aimed at the beast-warrior. The werewolf merely snapped at it. (1,600/600)

"Remind me, that thing negates my traps during our Battle Phases, right?" Vivienne asked. Before Chad could answer, she went on, "Good thing I can set this one off right now, then! Activate Shadow Spell!"

From absolutely nowhere, a dozen black metal chains launched out and wrapped themselves around the Pitch-Black Warwolf's limbs, dragging him to the ground. He snarled again, only to get a chain sealed around his muzzle. (1,600/600 - 900/600)

Groaning, Chad took a card from his hand and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I set this facedown and end my turn," he said.

As Vivienne drew, the Toy Soldier took a small bugle out from under its jacket and set it to where it should have had a mouth. Fingering the keys, it played a call to arms, whereupon two more wooden soldiers appeared to either side of it. (800/300 x3)

"That would be my Toy Soldier's special ability at work," Vivienne declared. "If it's on my field during my Standby Phase, I can summon two more from my deck to the field in Attack Mode. Now I think they could use a morale boost, so I'll play the Magic Card known as Drum and Fife Platoon!"

As the card shimmered into view, a group of wooden soldiers came out of it, carrying several fifes and drums. They marched in front of the Toy Soldiers, playing a rousing march on their instruments. The soldiers saluted, swelling with pride. (800/300 - 1,600/300 x3)

"Can they do 'When the Saints Go Marching In'?" Gerald asked.

"They don't do requests," Vivienne replied. "However, they do have a nice effect - every monster I control that has less than 1,000 Attack Points gets their Attack Points doubled for the turn. Now, since I'm more of a cat person... Toy Soldier, execute the Pitch-Black Warwolf with Pop Gun!"

The first Toy Soldier raised its gun to its eyeline, revealing a cork stuck on the end of it. It cocked the weapon, took aim and fired, the cork bouncing off the Pitch-Black Warwolf's head. It collapsed in its chains, shattering into a thousand pieces.

Even as his Life Points dropped to 7,300, Chad declared, "I activate my trap, Animal Trail, which lets me add a Beast-type monster to my hand when one of my monsters dies in battle!" He searched his deck for a moment and then slid his chosen card into his hand.

Vivienne giggled again, announcing, "Too bad I can't play with it until next turn, huh? Especially since I've cleared the line of fire! Now attack him directly, my other Toy Soldiers!"

As she announced it, the other wooden soldiers drew a bead on Chad and fired their corks at him. Both projectiles hit him in the stomach, bending him over double and causing him to weeze as his Life Points dropped to 5,100.

"Please tell me playtime isn't over so quickly," the dark-haired girl said, frowning. "It'd be a shame to be over so soon... Either way, a card facedown completes the set. Your move." With the end of her turn, the march ended, returning the Attack Points of her monsters to normal.

Nodding, Chad took a deep breath and drew his next card.

Bracing herself, Vivienne slid her finger over one of the Magic/Trap zone buttons.

"I'll start the turn with Cold Wave!" Chad announced. "This makes all other Magic or Trap cards useless until my next turn!"

Laura turned to Gerald, asking, "You gave it back to him?" The lazy man nodded.

_Oh, me, oh, my,_ the girl thought.

The air began to cool around them, and then flashed to freezing. All of the facedown cards on either duelist's fields were now sealed inside a thin layer of ice, which slowly began to melt.

"Remarkably durable ice, given that it's late June," Gerald noted. Everyone else involved showed amazing tact by not answering him.

"Next up," Chad continued, "I summon my Gyaku-Gire Panda in Attack Mode."

A truly vicious panda walked into the space in front of Chad, brandishing a gigantic bamboo club. It snarled at the toys, and they pulled their guns on it in response. (800/1,600)

"Hold your fire!" Vivienne yelled at her monsters. "It's an endangered species!"

"Actually, I'd say that honor goes to your Toy Soldiers, considering the special ability of that monster," Gerald said from his spot against the wall. "The Gyaku-Gire Panda gains 500 Attack Points for each monster opposing it."

Chad sighed, thinking, _I was just about to say that..._ Meanwhile, his panda went completely out of control. (800/1,600 - 2,300/1,600) He took a moment to catch his breath before ordering, "Gyaku-Gire Panda, send one of the Toy Soldiers back to the shop!"

After pounding the ground for a moment with its bamboo stick, the giant panda grabbed hold of the first Toy Soldier. It threw the wooden toy into the air, and then swung the stick, knocking the Toy Soldier into the atmosphere. There was a brief sparkle as it left orbit.

Vivienne's Life Points lowered to 6,500, and she seethed, looking at her hand.

"If it's any consolation," Chad said, almost looking sad, "my Gyaku-Gire Panda weakens by 500 points now that I've killed a Toy Soldier." Indeed, the monster seemed calmer. (2,300/1,600 - 1,800/1,600) "That's it for my turn."

Drawing a card, Vivienne groaned; the ice on her facedown cards was much smaller, but still there. She took a card from her hand, saying, "I'll switch my Toy Soldiers into Defense Mode and leave it at that."

The wooden soldiers knelt, crossing their guns across their chests.

"Mistake," Gerald muttered quietly enough that only Laura could hear. She tilted her head at that.

As Chad drew, he smirked. "Vivienne, you just did me a favor - the Gyaku-Gire Panda deals damage through defense, so I can hurt you even worse than I could have before! Before I do that, however, I'll set two cards facedown..."

Two facedown cards flashed into being in front of the artist.

"Next," he added, "I summon Exarion Universe to my field in Attack Mode."

All around them, the air warped and turned odd colors, until finally the reason for it trotted out. The Exarion Universe, a large, green-skinned centaur in body armor, stepped into play, holding an intricate lance in one hand. (1,800/1,900)

"In response, I activate my Toy Cannon Trap Card!" Vivienne declared. "When I activate it, I deal you 400 points of damage and switch one of your monsters into Defense Mode - I'll do it to Gyaku-Gire Panda!"

A large brass cannon fell in front of the kneeling Toy Soldier, who took hold of the pull-string emerging from the cannon's back.

Raising her hand, Vivienne thrust it down, shouting, "Fire at will! But not at Will, since he's a friend of mine!"

Gerald and Laura looked at each other for a brief moment; following it, both duelists groaned simultaneously.

The Toy Soldier yanked at the cannon's pull-string, and it fired a large cork ball. The ball struck the panda in the stomach, and it fell backwards, knocking Chad over as it collapsed onto all fours and switched to Defense Mode. As the artist pushed himself upright, his Life Points fell to 4,700.

Brushing the dust off of his red leather pants, Chad said, "Nice trick, but my Exarion Universe can damage you through Defense Mode as well, as long as I cut his attack power by 400 points. I'll do that now. Exarion Universe, attack one of the Toy Soldiers with Stardust Javelin!"

Holding the lance in his fingertips, the mysterious being charged it with his energy. (1,800/1,900 - 1,400/1,900) He then threw it at the kneeling soldier, impaling it. Light rose from the impaling weapon, consuming the toy utterly and dropping Vivienne's Life Points to 5,400.

"That will be it for me," Chad then said.

Vivienne drew, and then giggled as she tucked the card into her hand. "I'll start by playing a Field Magic Card, the Haunted Dollhouse!"

The music store and the street around it disappeared, replaced by a dark void. Gerald stood up straight, concerned as to what he was leaning against. Soon, the void vanished, replaced by a decrepit mansion with oddly-proportioned furniture scattered about. The lazy man resumed leaning.

Chad raised an eyebrow, asking, "What does this place do?"

"Nothing at the moment," the girl replied. "Absolutely nothing. For now, I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and play a Magic Card known as Toy Memorial!"

The facedown monster appeared in front of Vivienne, and behind it appeared a card with a picture of several toy soldiers gathered around the broken pieces of one of their number.

"This," the girl continued, "actually has an effect at the moment. It lets me draw a card for every card with Toy in its name in my Graveyard - that's two Toy Soldiers and Toy Cannon, so I get three cards. But I can't attack on this turn if I do it, not that I planned to." She drew three times and concluded, "I'll set one more card facedown. Your turn!"

Chad drew his next card, thinking, _That Toy Soldier isn't much of a threat at the moment. Whatever that facedown monster is, however, I can't take the risk of having it lash out at me._ "I set a monster in Defense Mode," he said, "and switch my Gyaku-Gire Panda back into Attack Mode! Panda, attack Vivienne's facedown monster!"

The panda rose onto its hind legs, grabbed the bamboo stick, and charged the girl's field, growling for blood.

"Activate Widespread Ruin!" Vivienne declared. "Your monsters are tied, so I'll destroy the attacking one with it!"

And then the Gyaku-Gire Panda exploded, leaving only its bamboo behind.

The artist shrugged, looked to Exarion Universe, and said, "I don't think I'll use your effect this turn. Instead, attack her facedown monster with Stardust Pike."

In response, the green-skinned otherworldly monster nodded and charged, lowering his weapon to waist level. It slid cleanly through the girl's facedown monster... which turned out to be a small, cute little doll. (/1,000)

Vivienne waved one of her fingers, telling her opponent, "This is Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll. Her first effect prevents her from being destroyed in battle..."

"First?" Chad asked.

"She has three. The second effect does 500 points of damage to anyone who attacks her."

A chilling laugh echoed throughout the Haunted Dollhouse, and the lights flickered as twin hands emerged from the shadows. They clawed into Chad's skin, making him cry out as his Life Points hit 4,200.

"That sets off my Trap, Numinous Healer!" Chad shouted as he hit it. A winged woman in a nurse's outfit sprang from his facedown card, swatting away the shadowy hands. "When I take damage to my Life Points, she gives me back 1,000 points!" The nurse's hand slid over Chad's cheek, and she smiled as his Life Points rose to 5,200.

All Vivienne did was shrug. "The third effect... well, she's called 'the Wandering Bisque Doll' for a reason..."

For a moment, Chad didn't understand it. He then realized Alice was no longer on her field. He looked to his own field, and jumped as he saw the monster sitting next to Exarion Universe. "So... she comes under the control of her attacker, then," he said once his heart rate stabilized.

"Pretty much," Vivienne replied. "By the way, the effect of the Haunted Dollhouse kicks in now. When Alice switches control to my opponent, the spirits of this place let me bring out a Doll Part from my deck. So I'll summon Doll Part Blue in Defense Mode!"

Shadows gathered in front of the girl, eventually fading away to reveal a disturbing monster: a severed doll head with long blonde hair. (0/0)

Eesh... Chad thought. "I'll end my turn, then."

"I have seen Dark Necrofear," Gerald said, staring at the Doll Part. "I've seen Millennium Scorpion eat a Dark Magician Girl alive. But that may be the creepiest monster I've seen in a long time."

Meanwhile, Laura sighed, thinking, _How did I know she was going to use dolls?_

As Vivienne drew, she began to rock back and forth on her feet, smiling. "Okay, then, what to play with next?" she asked nobody. "Ah, there we are. I summon Doll Part Gold in Attack Mode!"

A pair of arms floated down from the ceiling of the Haunted Dollhouse, hanging in midair next to the head.

"Next," she continued, "I'll play the Magic Card known as Creature Swap. This lets me give you one of my monsters for one of yours, so I'll give you my Toy Soldier and take whatever you want to give me."

Chad shut his eyes, thinking, _Only one monster won't get me in trouble for losing it. _"Take Alice back, then."

Alice disappeared from Chad's field as the Toy Soldier appeared in its place. At the same time, the Toy Soldier disappeared from Vivienne's field, now replaced by the Wandering Bisque Doll.

"Why did she take Alice back after going through the trouble of giving her away?" Laura asked Gerald.

His response was, "I know as much about these cards as you do, which is to say I haven't the slighest idea."

Vivienne concluded with, "I'll set one card facedown and end with that." She then placed her hands on her knees, leaned forward, and purred, "Don't keep me waiting..."

Laura's fists began to clench.

Chad, on the other hand, was in that limbo between fear and intrigue. He drew another card, thinking over his options, before deciding on his next plan. "I'll start by sacrificing the Toy Soldier and my facedown Soul Tiger to summon Big Koala in Attack Mode!" he said in one breath.

Both monsters disappeared, the Toy Soldier falling to pieces before it did, and in their place emerged an appropriately-named giant koala. It munched a eucalyptus leaf for a moment, and then paused, looking at its surroundings. Raising its fist, it punched a hole in the Haunted Dollhouse's roof, letting in the sunlight. (2,700/2,000)

"Awwwww..." Vivienne said, smiling at the large but cute creature.

The artist looked nonplussed. "Ummm... Big Koala, attack the Doll Part Gold with Thunder from Down Under... or just eat it, whichever."

The large marsupial reached down, scooping up the toy arms, and threw them in the air. They landed in its open mouth, and it chewed on them for a moment before swallowing.

"Activate Spirit Barrier!" Vivienne declared, the card lifting as she said so. "This prevents me from taking damage in battle as long as I have monsters!" The spirits of the Haunted Dollhouse gathered around her as she said it. "And at the same time, I'll activate my other trap, Necro-Doll Meister!"

Gerald raised an eyebrow, asking, "Spirit Barrier I know, but Necro-Doll Meister?"

"I can activate that card when a Doll Part is destroyed in battle," she replied. "It lets me summon two more Doll Parts to my field from my deck in Attack Mode. So I'll bring out the Doll Parts Pink and Red!"

Another eerie laugh echoed through the Haunted Dollhouse, and two balls of purple light floated onto Vivienne's field. They transformed into a doll torso and a pair of doll legs, hovering in the air before her. (0/0 x2)

To everyone's surprise, Chad let out a low growl before ordering, "Exarion Universe, dispose of the Doll Part Blue with Stardust Pike!"

Again, the otherworldly centaur charged, impaling the toy's head on the end of his pike. He spun the weapon around and shattered the head on the ground.

"That will be it for me," he finished.

Vivienne drew, but then looked distracted. Her eyes closed, and she concentrated harder, placing her hands to her head.

"Are you okay?" Chad asked.

It was a moment before she responded, nervously nodding and saying, "Yeah, I'm fine now..."

**0000000**

The ball of fire stopped on top of a state of Snoopy, briefly damaging the paint job before it turned into Lucifer again. He rubbed his temples, muttering, "Why did I teach you to amplify ze spell to zat level? I'll have a migraine for a week..." He then held up his hand, palm to him, and intoned, "Ring of Clarity, pierce zis mystic shroud and open ze path to ze dreamer..."

The ring shone, and Lucifer smirked. "Can't stop me." He reverted to the ball of fire and flew off.

**0000000**

Shaking her head, Vivienne began, "I play Pot of Greed!" As usual for a duelist, she paid the hologram no mind and just drew her cards. "Next, I play the Magic Card known as Shallow Grave, letting us both bring a monster back from our Graveyard in facedown Defense Mode!"

Both duelists took a card from their Graveyards and set them into place on their fields, the facedown monsters appearing simultaneously.

"For my next trick," the girl went on, "I'll summon another Doll Part Gold in Attack Mode!"

Once again, the shining purple light floated into view from the Haunted Dollhouse, forming a pair of doll arms. (0/0) The various parts of the dolls assembled into a shape vaguely resembling a completed doll, but cracked and incomplete; the eyes were full of sadness.

To Laura's surprise, Gerald let out a depressed sigh, rubbing one of his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked. He didn't give an answer, but she had a feeling seeing the doll parts like that made him sad.

Apparently, Vivienne noticed it as well, as she turned to him and said, "Don't be so sad, sir. The last card in my hand will make the doll parts feel better... although I don't think Chad's going to like it."

"What are you talking about?" Chad asked.

Sliding the last card into her Duel Disk, Vivienne shouted, "I play Burial of the Marionette!"

Now the eerie laughs within the Haunted Dollhouse reached a fever pitch, echoing off every possible surface and bouncing around within the building. One came right behind Laura, and she snapped a kick into the darkness, eyes full of rage. Gerald ducked and covered. And Chad, staring with wide eyes, realized where the laughs were coming from: Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll.

The Doll Parts rose into the air, lines of energy connecting them, and began to take shape. Another pair of doll arms rose into view, joined to the others by a web of energy. The feet on the Doll Part Red (the legs) bent downward, locking into the hips of the Doll Part Pink. One set of arms attached to the shoulders, and the other set gouged their way into the torso's sides. Finally, the facedown Doll Part Blue came into view and wrenched itself onto the neck.

"So what did that card do?" Chad asked, gaze locked on the gathering parts.

"It's a card I can only play when I have Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll on my field," Vivienne answered. "By sending one each of the four different Doll Parts to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon the ultimate spirit of broken dolls: the Doll Chimera!"

Its assembly complete, the Doll Chimera settled on the girl's field. Its hands drummed their fingers on the floor for a brief second, and then it reared back on its legs, slashing at the air with its hands. (0/0)

Laura looked at it and said, "So how does it gain Attack Points?"

"It gets 400 for every Doll Part in my Graveyard," Vivienne replied. "At the moment, that's five, so that makes 2,000 Attack Points!"

The limbs of the Doll Chimera were outlined in purple light, and it glared at Chad, drawing its hands along the floor and leaving long gouges. (0/0 - 2,000/0)

"Now, my Doll Chimera," Vivienne declared, "attack Exarion Universe with Rage of the Broken!"

Skittering like a spider, the misshapen doll charged at the otherworldly centaur. It flipped past it, striking out with all four of its hands and slashing through his armor. There was a pause, and then he fell apart in sections, head rolling away from the chest as the torso split in two. Chad's Life Points dipped to 5,000.

"Your move," the girl said as the Doll Chimera stepped back onto her field.

_Okay, creepiest monster ever,_ Chad thought, _but I can handle it._ He drew his next card and instantly played it, announcing, "Graceful Charity!"

The angel descended through a hole in the Haunted Dollhouse's roof (left by the Big Koala's fist). She shuddered a little, but still granted Chad his three draws. He looked at his cards, and then tossed two of them (Berserk Gorilla and Polymerization) to the angel, distracted by his planning.

Opening his field slot, Chad then said, "I'm really tired of this place, so let's change the battlefield. I play the Field Magic Card Forest, boosting all my Beasts and Beast-Warriors by 200 points!"

The floor of the Haunted Dollhouse began to buckle, and Gerald stepped away from the wall. He had good timing, as a tree burst out of the floor right where he'd stood seconds earlier. More trees bashed through the floor all around the duelists as time caught up to the dollhouse; in mere seconds, an entire forest had grown into place, and the last remnants of the previous field melted into nothingness. The Big Koala snatched some leaves off a nearby tree and ate them. (2,700/2,000 - 2,900/2,200)

As the growth quieted down, Gerald went up to one of the trees and carefully leaned against it.

"Now," Chad went on, "I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode!"

Leaves rustled and trees shook as the blind, snarling dog stalked up to Chad's side, growling at the Doll Chimera. (1,900/1,400) It sniffed one of the trees and barked, satisfied. (1,900/1,400 - 2,100/1,600)

Vivienne let out a little squeal, yelling, "Puppy!"

Off on the sidelines, Laura shut her eyes and began taking very deep breaths, her body shaking with the need to hit something. Gerald pressed tighter against his tree.

"I'm glad you like him, but I don't think the Doll Chimera will share that sentiment," the artist said. "Mad Dog of Darkness, attack the Doll Chimera!"

With a loud snarl, the dog charged forward, batting the head off of the chimera and ripping its limbs away with its teeth. After a few minutes, the Doll Chimera was scattered across the forest floor. As before, the spirits gathered around Vivienne, protecting her from losing Life Points.

But the monster didn't shatter into triangles. In fact, Vivienne laughed outright as her monster was attacked. "Nice try, but the Doll Chimera's more durable than that," she said. "All I need to do is discard two Doll Parts from my deck and it comes back from the dead - like so! And thanks to the extra Doll Parts in my Graveyard, it comes back stronger!" She took a Doll Part Pink and Doll Part Red from her deck and slid them into her Graveyard.

The scattered pieces of the Doll Chimera began to pull together, another torso and pair of legs falling amid them. The torsos joined, hips to neck, and the head attached to the neck still open. Both sets of arms inserted into the shoulders, and the legs into the hips. Rebuilt, the even larger doll glared at Chad, drawing power from its new additions. (2,000/0 - 2,800/0)

"Ummmmm..." The artist began to sweat. "I see what you mean... Well, since attacking it again would only make it stronger, I'll set a card facedown and call that my turn."

Laura signaled for Gerald to lean forward. Once he did so, poised on her hand, she whispered, "You think that might be the next specialist? She's definitely weird enough, and I don't think normal people would play something like Doll Chimera..."

Gerald shook his head, replying, "She's a little young to be a specialist. Besides, when she pulled that little pre-duel magic trick, she called on the 'dreaming world' - you'd think a specialist would call on darkness for that sort of effect." He paused and then added, "I have my suspicions about her, but not of that sort."

Nodding, Laura pushed Gerald back, and he resumed leaning against the tree.

Vivienne snapped the next card off of her deck (which was beginning to look a little thin), smiled, and said, "You know, Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll is hundreds of years old and immensely valuable. Let's smash it to pieces!"

"I don't follow your logic," Chad replied.

"You will in a minute. I play the Magic Card known as Doll Hammer!"

Once Vivienne slid the card into her Duel Disk, a large hammer appeared over Alice. It came down hard, shattering the fragile doll. Once the dust cleared, however, a glowing light floated from the remains and sank into her deck. Meanwhile, the shockwave from impact knocked Big Koala onto his rear, where he stayed.

"Not that I'm sad to see her go," Chad asked, "but what was the point?"

The girl replied, as she drew, "Doll Hammer lets me take out a monster on my field in order to draw two cards. Plus, as a bonus, I get to switch the mode of one of your monsters!" She gave her cards the once-over before ordering, "Doll Chimera, slice up the Big Koala something nice with Rage of the Broken!"

Chad triggered one of his facedown cards, shouting, "I know attacks mean little to your doll, but let's see it get past this! Sakuretsu Armor!"

As the vaguely centipedian doll skittered forward, a shining armor surrounded Chad's Big Koala. The Doll Chimera lashed out at it with all of its hands, but the only effect was that the armor exploded, throwing pieces of the doll all around the forest.

Searching her deck, Vivienne picked out two cards (Laura noticed they were Doll Parts Blue and Gold) and slid them into her Graveyard. Another head and pair of arms fell from the sky, and the Doll Chimera began to reassemble. The torsos linked up, and the various limbs locked into their sockets... but this time, two heads fought for room in a single neck, and four arms jutted out of the same shoulders, making the cracked and burned doll look even worse. (2,800/0 - 3,600/0)

"Okay, that didn't work," Chad noted.

Vivienne giggled, saying, "I can use that effect whenever Doll Chimera would be destroyed, not just in battle. If I'd wanted, I could have used Doll Hammer on it instead of Alice, but I didn't want to. Unfortunately, that was my Battle Phase, so..." She took a card from her hand and slid it into her Duel Disk. "I'll have to end my turn with a facedown card."

Setting his fingers on his next card, Chad drew, thinking, Okay. _That thing's not immortal. But at this point, I'm down to topdecking, and most of the monsters I've got that are strong enough to take this thing out without killing me in the process seem to have hit the bottom of the deck._

He looked at his draw, shook his head, and declared, "I'll switch Mad Dog of Darkness into Defense Mode, set this facedown, and end my turn." As his facedown card appeared, the dog sat on its haunches, snarling.

Before Vivienne even drew, she said, "I activate Dust Tornado!"

All around the four duelists, leaves and branches began to shake and quiver. A sharp gust of wind blew through the area, throwing more leaves every which way, and then a whirlwind blew past Gerald and Laura and took out Chad's facedown Numinous Healer.

"Now," she said, drawing her card and giving it a cursory glance, "I'll play a very useful Magic Card built for the Toy Soldiers. They couldn't make it to this part, but I don't think they'll mind if I let the Doll Chimera use it. It's called Forced March!"

When she played the card, it appeared behind her Doll Chimera, showing off its picture - a bunch of exhausted Toy Soldiers. A hand emerged from the front of the card, bearing a whip, and cracked it over the Doll Chimera's head, forcing it to skitter forward... and resulting in it leaving a pair of legs behind it.

"Your monster's shedding," Gerald noted as one of the torsos fell loose.

Vivienne shrugged. "It's the drawback of Forced March. You see, this card makes my monster charge into battle so fast that it can run past Chad's monsters and attack him directly... but it also costs the monster in question half its Attack Points because of the brutal pace of the march. Most monsters just get tired, but this being a Doll Chimera..."

By that point, the Doll Chimera sprinted past Chad's monsters, now reduced to a normal doll body - aside from the extra arm jutting one of one shoulder. (3,600/0 - 1,800/0) It raised all three of its hands and plunged them into Chad's chest, causing him to roar in pain as his Life Points shot down to 3,200.

"And now I'll set a card facedown and end my turn," Vivienne declared. With the end of her turn, the Doll Chimera's parts returned to it, rebuilding it as the oversized, haphazard nightmare it typically was.

_If this were a Darkness Infected, I'd be getting black marks on my neck by now,_ the artist thought. _I have to turn this around and soon.or I'm going to go down as a guy who lost to an overgrown kid - and one that_ wasn't _Rebecca Hawkins, at that!_ "I draw!" he announced, snapping out his next card. "And I play Pot of Greed!"

As the evil jar floated in front of him, Vivienne merely stuck her tongue out at it. Chad ignored this, drawing two cards.

"Now," he continued, "I'm going to ask you an odd question: are you okay?"

Gerald looked to Laura, nodded, and both spectators covered their heads.

Vivienne, meanwhile, didn't get it. "Hmmm? Well, I think so..."

"You won't be. I summon the Buster Wolf in Attack Mode."

A shimmering blue wolf leaped amid the trees before landing in front of Chad, growling at the opponent. Its nails drew deep furrows in the earth. (1,800/0 - 2,000/200)

"Awwwww!" Vivienne said, smiling at the Buster Wolf. "Your deck's just full of cute little animals!"

On the sidelines, Laura lowered her hands from her head just long enough to crack her knuckles.

"Cute isn't the word-" Chad stopped in mid-sentence and cried, "Buster Wolf!"

The wolf turned into pure energy and shot into Chad's fist, whereupon Chad threw it at Vivienne. The resulting flash of light knocked down several trees, left a long black trail in its wake, and sent Vivienne to the ground with a yelp. Her Life Points decreased to 4,500, while Chad's dropped to 2,200.

A daze crept into the girl's voice as she asked, "What the heck just happened?"

"The special effect of Buster Wolf lets me sacrifice it in order to deal its Attack Points in damage to your Life Points," Chad explained, moving up to his downed opponent. "Of course, I take half the amount in backlash, so it all works out. Need a boost?" He extended his free hand.

The girl took it, and he helped her back to her feet before returning to his field... although it took a moment before they could bring themselves to let go.

Off to the side, Gerald just smiled in a way that made Laura feel out of the loop.

The duel resumed, and Chad declared, "Now that I have more than five Beasts, Beast-Warriors, or Winged-Beasts in my Graveyard, I can play my other card, Blessings of the Hunted. This will give me back 2,500 Life Points!"

A bunch of bandaged Scapegoats hopped into view, nuzzling at his ankles, and his Life Points clicked up to 4,700. "That's the last card I had, so it's your move," Chad said.

Dusting off the front of her dress, Vivienne said, "You know, that Buster Wolf attack kind of reminded me of home. It was a nice feeling..."

"Massive beams of energy that can take out grown trees remind you of home?" Laura asked.

"Yeah... you won't believe me, but my dad isn't human. Beams of light, unexplained fires, and the occasional ghost in the spare room aren't that uncommon."

One of Gerald's eyebrows lifted, and his suspicion cemented itself a little more firmly.

"I'm perfectly willing to believe you," Chad replied. "I've met my share of nonhumans. In fact, I dueled against a video game character only this morning."

Vivienne tilted her head, drew a card, and then just stared at it for a moment. She shut her eyes for a second and then sighed in relief, saying, "I set a monster in Defense Mode. Doll Chimera, attack Big Koala with Rage of the Broken!"

After taking a moment to sharpen its hands against each other, the massive collection of doll parts threw itself at the Big Koala, slicing it to pieces with those ever-sharp limbs.

"I can't do anything else, so it's your move," Vivienne said.

Chad drew, thinking, _Hold it... I know how to break that doll for good._ He looked to his card and groaned, thinking, _But that's not what I need to do it!_ "I have to pass," he said.

Vivienne began to rock on her heels, drawing another card. She frowned, and then said, "Doll Chimera, take out his puppy."

The previous scene repeated itself, the gigantic mass of doll parts surging forward and tearing the Mad Dog of Darkness to shreds.

The girl concluded, "I'll end my turn on that."

_If this isn't my best draw yet, I'm ankle-deep in trouble,_ Chad thought. He drew and immediately slid his card into place, announcing, "I play whatever this is!"

The card's hologram appeared a moment later - Card of Sanctity. Both of the spectators exhaled at that point as the duelists drew their hands up to six cards.

As Vivienne drew the last of her cards, she paused, and then gulped hard, the hand holding her cards trembling.

_Just as I thought,_ the artist concluded. Aloud, he said, "Now I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back my Soul Tiger in Defense Mode."

The luminescent tiger curled up on Chad's field, growling gently. (0/2,100 - 200/2,300)

"As per the special effect of this monster in my hand," Chad continued, "I can bring him out with only one sacrifice instead of the usual two. So I will! I tribute my Soul Tiger to summon Behemoth the King of All Animals!"

The Soul Tiger vanished, and the ground shook. All around them, the trees began to vibrate, footsteps cracking the forest floor around them. With each step, the duelists fought to stay standing.

Finally, one mighty foot landed next to Chad, and the lord of beasts stood over him. Its pink skin and purple fur were especially fine today, now that it was in its home environment.

"I know that card," Vivienne interrupted. "And I also know that if you only make one sacrifice, its original Attack Points are only 2,000 - he still can't hurt my Doll Chimera!"

Indeed, the beast seemed a little weaker than usual, although he still drew power from the forest. (2,700/1,500 - 2,000/1,500 - 2,200/1,700)

Chad shook his head, holding up another card from his hand. "Vivienne," he asked, "what sort of beast deck would this be without Wild Nature's Release?" He slid it into his Duel Disk. "As usual, Behemoth gains his Defense Point total to his Attack Points... but the bonus for my Forest still applies."

Even as Vivienne began to sweat, the King of All Animals inhaled deeply, and then let out a roar that shook the entire forest around him, downing more of the trees. (2,200/1,700 - 3,900/1,700)

"Finally," Chad declared, "I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to do away with Spirit Barrier."

A gust of wind zipped across the field, and the spirits finally dispersed from around the girl as her trap shattered.

"Behemoth, attack the Doll Chimera with Wild Monarch's Crash!" Chad ordered.

Quick to comply, the enraged king of all animals charged ahead, swinging one gigantic paw around and smashing the doll into its component parts once again. This time, however, Behemoth bought his foot down on the heads, shattering them as the doll exploded into triangles. Vivienne's Life Points went to 4,300.

"No revivification this time?" Laura asked.

With satisifaction, Chad said, "In order to bring Doll Chimera back from the Graveyard, Vivienne needs to send two Doll Parts from the deck to the Graveyard. I've kept count, and she's sent nine parts there - which meant she only had three left in her deck. My guess is that she's got two in her hand thanks to my Card of Sanctity, so she only has one left, making the Chimera's effect useless!"

The girl sighed and nodded. "That's the only real weakness of my monster..."

"That, and it's a NOMI," Gerald added. "Its effect is all that could bring it back." Pausing, he then said, "I've never gotten a good answer as to what NOMI means, anyway. This game has some odd terminology."

"To finish my turn," Chad said, "I'll set one more card facedown. Wild Nature's Release will now kill my Behemoth." As he said it, the King of All Animals roared one more time and then faded away.

Before she drew her card, Vivienne thought to herself, _I need perfect luck on this draw or I've had it! I've only got two ways to win with this deck, and he just finished off one of them!_ She drew her card, looked at it, and then said, "I play Pot of Avarice!"

"She needed it," Gerald noted. "Unless my math's wrong, she's gone through thirty-seven cards - and that deck looked to be about standard size. She couldn't have had more than three or four cards left."

A complete set of Doll Parts and Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll briefly appeared in front of Vivienne before she shuffled them back into her drew. She drew twice, examined the rest of her hand, and then began to jump up and down, shouting, "Yippee! Yippee!"

"Hold me back, Gerald, hold me back!" Laura shouted, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket and attempting to storm towards Vivienne. The lazy young man obliged her request, grabbing her shoulders to hold her in place.

Ignoring the threat of physical harm, Vivienne said, "I'll start with a monster in Attack Mode - Doll Part Blue!"

One last severed doll's head fell onto her field, staring with glassy eyes at Chad. (0/0)

"Next," the girl continued, "I'll play the Magic Card known as Junk Dealer! This lets me Special Summon two Machine or Warrior-type monsters from my Graveyard in Attack Mode, as long as I cut their Attack Points in half, so I'll bring back two of my Toy Soldiers!"

As the card took effect, a burly man with cybernetic parts (reminding a calmed Laura of a male Menardi) stepped onto Vivienne's field. He dumped out a large basket of garbage, knelt, and sorted through it, eventually throwing two chipped and battered Toy Soldiers onto her field. Winking, he blinked out of existence, leaving the broken soldiers behind. (800/300 - 400/300 x2)

_She's setting up for something..._ Gerald and Chad both thought.

Holding up the next card in her hand, Vivienne announced, "My next card is called Sky Union! By sacrificing three monsters on my field, I can Special Summon a monster that I like to call a toy for BIG kids. So here it comes - Air Fortress Ziggurat!"

From the sky, three long pincers descended, grabbing hold of the monsters on Vivienne's field. They hauled them upwards, disappearing into the clouds. Suddenly, a fusillade of gunfire launched into the forest, blowing away the trees around Vivienne and leaving a clearing. In the process, the forest caught fire, the trees lighting up like Roman candles.

A shadow blocked out the sun, and then all four people looked up... just in time to see it descend. It was a massive battleship of a monster, looking like a floating stronghold, with guns emerging from every available space. Energy crackled along the front, where a strange robotic head sat. Its eyes lit up with a dim red glow, and it trained its guns on Chad. (2,500/2,000)

The artist was stunned speechless. Finally, he regained his voice long enough to yell, "_THAT'S_ a toy?"

"Oh, come on! It's not that big!" Vivienne protested.

"By the standards of B_robdingnag_, maybe!"

"I thought boys liked big toys?"

"Not when they could single-handedly overthrow small countries!"

Finally, Vivienne shrugged. "Whatever. It's still going to tear you apart... especially since Trap Cards don't affect it in the slightest! Air Fortress Ziggurat, gun him down!"

The guns on the Air Fortress began to click as ammo poured into their chambers. Even as the artist threw his hands in front of himself in a vain attempt to ward off the shots, the last few guns locked on him.

Every gun on the Air Fortress Ziggurat fired at once, knocking down several more trees and throwing Chad into the air. He came down with a clang as his Duel Disk hit the earth before he did, his Life Points plunging to 2,200 again.

"I set a card facedown and go into my End Phase," Vivienne said. "As per another effect of Ziggurat, I can Special Summon a Toy Robot Token to my field, so I'll do so in Defense Mode!"

The Air Fortress Ziggurat emitted a beam of red light from its eyes, setting it on one of Vivienne's monster zones. A tiny toy robot, looking like a miniature version of the Toy Soldiers she'd used earlier, materialized in the beam. (0/0)

"And if you think you can defeat me just by bringing back Behemoth, you're as wrong as you are cute - Toy Robot Tokens must be destroyed before you can attack anything else on the field!" the girl concluded. "That's my turn."

_That may be the most backhanded flirtation ever,_ Chad thought as he drew. Arching an eyebrow, he then thought, _I think I can still win this duel... it all depends on her next move._ "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," he declared.

Vivienne drew another Doll Part, but shrugged, thinking, _What I draw isn't important anymore._ "Ziggurat, obliterate her facedown monster!"

Once again, all of the guns on the Air Fortress sounded, blowing away Chad's facedown monster - revealed to be the Magician of Faith just before it died.

"As per the Magician of Faith's effect," Chad said, "I'll retrieve a Magic Card from my Graveyard. I choose Graceful Charity!" The card slid out of his Graveyard, and he added it to his hand.

Laura crossed her arms, musing, "Why didn't he just bring back his Pot of Greed if he wanted to draw cards?" At that point, Gerald yawned, and she shrugged, adding, "I guess it's not such a weird move after all."

Vivienne giggled, announcing, "I end my turn, and now another Toy Robot Token joins the first!" Once again, Ziggurat materialized a robot on her field. (0/0)

As he drew his last card, Chad shook his head. "Vivienne, if you hadn't done that, you could have won this duel. I begin by playing Graceful Charity."

Again, he drew three cards as the angel descended, and then tossed her two of them. Once he had a moment to study his draws, the artist went on, "Now I'll summon Bazoo the Soul Eater in Attack Mode!"

A freakish baboon leapt down from the trees, hooting and pouncing about, brandishing its sharp fangs. (1,600/900 - 1,800/1,100)

Chad continued, "Now I activate my facedown card, Call of the Haunted, to bring back..."

"Nothing!" Vivienne interrupted. "I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit!"

Vivienne's Life Points dropped to 3,300, but Call of the Haunted shattered before it could fully rise.

"That was a test," Chad said, grinning. "Now I'll play Premature Burial, paying 800 Life Points to bring back the Enraged Battle Ox I just discarded. Do you know what he does?"

As Chad's Life Points set themselves at 1,400, a circle of blood-red light shone on the field. One hand, bearing an axe, broke the surface before the minotaur pulled himself out of the ground, spitting dirt. (1,700/1,000 - 1,900/1,200)

It sank in, and the girl slumped to her knees. "My Toy Robots... they're living direct damage!"

Chad nodded, reaching into his Graveyard. "As per its effect, I'll remove three monsters from my Graveyard, increasing Bazoo's Attack Points by 300 for each one."

Three glowing orbs appeared in front of the Soul Eater, and it devoured each one of them, its muscles tightening as it finished the unholy meal. (1,800/1,100 - 2,700/1,100)

"Enraged Battle Ox, bring down the first Toy Robot," Chad ordered.

The minotaur rushed forward, sweeping his axe around and scattering bits of the Toy Robot Token all over the place. Vivienne's Life Points fell to 1,400, but she didn't seem to notice.

With a sigh, Chad finally said, "Bazoo, end the duel by destroying the second Toy Robot Token with Soul-Gorged Rush."

The baboon sprang forward, grabbed the Toy Robot, and pried it in half, Vivienne's Life Points clicking to zero as the robot exploded in its hands.

Immediately afterwards, the holograms vanished and Gerald fell asleep at the same moment. Since this meant the tree he'd used as a reclining surface no longer existed, he began to fall backwards. Laura caught him by the front of his shirt, which somehow failed to wake him up.

**0000000**

Above the duel, just high enough not to be seen, a ball of fire came to a stop. Something within it thought, _There you are!_ With that, the fireball began to descend.

**0000000**

Chad let out another sigh, shutting off his Duel Disk. He then stepped forward, offering his hand to Vivienne as he said, "Nice duel."

The girl didn't respond for a moment.

"Ummm... I said nice duel?" Chad said, slightly louder this time. Behind the duo, Laura had set Gerald on the sidewalk, waiting for him to wake up.

Reaching out, Vivienne slapped his hand away and sprang to her feet, eyes now full of unfocused anger. "Don't think it's over!" she shouted, causing the artist to step back in shock. "We're dueling again! Now!" She took her deck from the Duel Disk, secured it in its case, and tossed it into the white bag, pulling a different deck out of it.

"Listen, I can understand you're not happy about losing, but this is a little harsh..."

Chad's reasoning was cut off with a loud, "Hah!" from Vivienne as she clasped her hands in front of her. She then added, "Just to make sure you don't escape from this, I'm making this a Dream Battle!"

Just as she said it, Gerald awoke, shaking his head. "Dream Battle?" he muttered. "Now I'm sure of it."

"Sure of what?" Laura asked.

"Her magic called on dreams, her father's not human, she can activate what has to be the Dreams version of a Dark Duel..." The lazy young man shook his head. "I don't like the thought, but it has to be true."

All of Chad's complaints were drowned out by a rush of energy as the girl shut her eyes. One massive circle of pink light drew itself around the two duelists, and a series of lines drew itself on the floor...

...and then Vivienne's concentration was shattered and the lines evaporated as a very familiar voice screamed, "_**Vivienne St. Juliet Allumette!**_"

A ball of fire slammed into the nearby street, melting the pavement on impact and sending up an impressive spout of flame. The fire sooned died, revealing Lucifer Allumette standing in the center of a large crater, looking like someone had just dashed cold water in his face. The collar and cuffs of his suit were on fire, and threatening to spread. His hair was turning ashen, and his skin fading to a light black like the color of brimstone. He was quite literally primed to explode.

"Wait..." Chad said. He looked between Lucifer and Vivienne, and then asked the latter, "Vivienne St. Juliet Allumette... Your father's _Lucifer?_"

The girl hung her head, not responding for a few seconds before whispering, "Yes."

By this point, Lucifer had stepped out of the crater. He turned to Gerald, said, "Good afternoon, Monsieur Laxina," and then turned to Vivienne and erupted. "What in ze name of ze Divine are you _doing_ in zis city? Zis is ze center of ze biggest battle between Light and Darkness since ze damned Shadow Queen and you go traipsing around in ze center of it all? What are you _zinking?_ Are you actually zinking at _all?_"

"What was I supposed to do?" Vivienne shouted back, banishing her Duel Disk and thus making it easily to angrily gesture at her father. "Sit around in Marseilles and put up with my brothers all summer long? I'd rather have my gums scraped! At least there's something to do in this town!"

"Zat is no excuse for putting your life on ze line like zis!"

"It was never on the line, dad! Despite what you might think, I'm not dumb enough to go picking fights with Darkness Infected for the fun of it!"

Chad had moved back up to Laura and Gerald, saying, "Lucifer has a daughter?"

"Seems that way," Gerald replied, now sitting up. "I'm guessing she's what he was so busy trying to find. They don't look a lot alike, though, do they?"

"She probably takes after her mother," Laura said, crouched next to him.

The two were now arguing in Romance languages, first in French, briefly switching to Italian, and then back to French as Lucifer began to jab his finger in Vivienne's face. The girl now looked scared, recoiling from her father's shouts.

Taking a deep breath, Chad said, "I have to stop this." He took several steps forward and thrust his arms between them, saying, "Hey, cool off, you two!"

"What business is zis of yours, Monsieur Montmelier?" Lucifer growled, fire dancing on the palm of his hand.

"None at all, but I think you're going overboard. She's nineteen years old, and if our duel was any indication, she can take care of herself..." He stepped back a bit, standing by Vivienne's side. "I doubt she was in any danger of Darkness Infection, moot point though that may be."

The Beloved of Fire took a few deep breaths, his suit extinguishing itself and his skin and hair back to their normal colors. "I suppose you have a point..." he replied. He turned to Vivienne and extended one arm. "I apologize."

"So do I," the girl replied, and she slid into her father's arm, hugging him. Lucifer slid his arm around her and sighed, smiling.

Laura rolled her eyes, asking, "What, is it Father's Day or something?"

"That's already past," Gerald replied. "Jealous?" He then went prone as, without warning, Laura swung a kick past his head.

**0000000**

All of the events in front of the music shop passed without any notice from Degas or Alexander. The two exemplars of Darkness had other issues to deal with.

A cloud of darkness filled the pillar room, and Degas and Alexander stepped out of it in turn, the latter finishing the last remnants of a take-out Chinese box. The man in black readjusted his sunglasses, muttering, "I don't know how you can eat that..."

"To be honest, neither do I," Alexander replied. "But I believe an old Chinese proverb puts it best: 'If you wish to enjoy your meal, don't look in the kitchen.'" He dropped his chopsticks in the container and threw it aside, the box vanishing in a crackle of dark energy. "So, what's the next plan?"

"We'll discuss that in a moment," Degas said. He kicked a shard of obsidian to one side and shouted, "Hanzaki!"

The man clad in silver Lycra stepped out of a blur in the air, bowing. "Yes, Degas?"

"Are the Darkness Infected in place?"

Hanzaki nodded, telling him, "Indeed. All of the Darkness Infected except the one you specified are safely out of reach of Gerald and his company. And before you ask, Mr. Laxina is currently in downtown St. Paul, near the Xcel Energy Center. Fuu is in the same area - don't you love the law of averages?"

"Thank you, Hanzaki," the man in black replied. "Dismissed."

The air blurred, and Hanzaki stepped back through it, disappearing.

Fishing a napkin from his pocket, the man in green wiped off his mouth, noting, "Convenient, wouldn't you say? Perhaps fate is on our side this time. It may well be the first time."

"Perhaps," Degas said. "But even if that's the case, we must still be ready. Shall we?"

Alexander let out a long, deep sigh, head down. "If we must..."

The two men stepped forward and placed their hands on the northernmost pillar, flooding it with their combined energy. A series of cracks began to develop on its surface, and the two men stepped out of the pillar room.

They emerged in the viewing room, Degas snapping his fingers to turn the mirrors on as he said, "Give our next specialist her orders, will you?"

Alexander moved up to the phone, hitting the third button on the speed dial and picking up the receiver. He waited for a response, and then spoke in the "sage" voice: "Ah, Fuu... The great evil I told you about is in the same area as you are. Once you have tracked him down, give him the challenge and be ready for a fight like you have never seen before." He glanced up at the mirrors, and then said, "You will know him when you see him. He is currently accompanied by a tall man, a short red-haired girl, a young black-haired girl and a Frenchman in white. But you are only to deal with the evil himself, not his companions. Be prepared." He hung up.

As the man in green moved to his seat, the man in black smirked. "I see Lucifer finally found his daughter."

"Took him long enough," Alexander replied. "She only got into town three days ago... How did she slip past the barrier, anyway?"

**0000000**

Several minutes after Lucifer's arrival and the revelation of Vivienne's parentage, the girl and Chad were sitting on the sidewalk, going through Vivienne's other decks, Laura was taking the opportunity to stretch, and Gerald and Lucifer were standing a ways away.

"She's quite ze girl," the Beloved of Fire said. "Her older brothers have more power zan she does, simply by nature of being older, but she's got a fair share herself. She probably slipped through ze barrier around zis city like zere was nozing there."

"She's quite the duelist," Gerald replied.

"Ah, yes. Flighty, zough - I zink she has, perhaps, seven decks. Ze girl cannot settle on any one."

"What's her mother like?"

Lucifer sighed, rubbed his eyes, and then answered, "Fabrizia... Her mozer died four years ago. Cancer of ze uterus; it spread and overwhelmed her before anyone caught it."

Turning pale, Gerald said, "I'm sorry..."

"It's all right. You had no way of knowing. Besides, I'm used to being a widower... you get used to such zings when you're ageless, like I am."

_One wonders why you would marry at all if that's the case,_ Gerald thought, but he kept it to himself. "In that case, what was her mother like?"

Lucifer smiled. "Fabrizia was a beautiful woman; Vivienne looks just like her. We used to joke zat ze boys got all ze French from my side and Vivienne got all ze Italian from her side. I met her in Tuscany in 1975 and lost my heart to her in an instant..." He chuckled. "And I had zought I was immune to love at first sight by zat point..."

Before Lucifer could say anything else, an overhead motion caught the eye of all five people. An arrow descended from overhead, completely missed a nearby telephone phone, hit the sidewalk and splintered to pieces.

Bending down, Laura picked up the shattered projectile, saying, "There's a note on it." As the others gathered, she untied the note, unrolled it, and read, "'To the villain who calls himself Gerald Laxina: I challenge you to a fight between equals. Meet me at 2'o'clock at the gates of the Xcel Energy Center. If you refuse this challenge, I will consider myself dishonored and will slay you without remorse. Be ready for a battle like none other. Signed, Fuu.'"

Taking a small pocketwatch from her bag, Vivienne flipped it open and noted, "That's in an hour from now. No need to rush, I guess."

"Who makes challenges with arrows anymore?" Chad asked.

"More to the point..." Gerald added. "Who makes challenges with arrows and then has that bad an aim?"

**TOY SOLDIER**  
Type: Effect Monster  
Statisics: 3/800/300/Earth/Warrior  
Image: A small wooden toy soldier, in full uniform and carrying a rifle.  
Effect: If this card is on your field during your Standby Phase, you may Special Summon up to two other monsters of the same name to your field from your deck.

**DRUM AND FIFE PLATOON**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A group of toy soldiers, carrying drums and fifes and playing music, conducted by another toy soldier.  
Effect: All monsters you control with less than 1,000 Attack Points double their Attack Points until the end of the turn.

**TOY CANNON**  
Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: A toy soldier firing an old-fashioned wheeled cannon.  
Effect: Deal 400 points of Direct Damage to your opponent's Life Points. Afterwards, choose a face-up monster your opponent controls and switch it to Defense Mode.

**FORCED MARCH  
**Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A group of exhausted toy soldiers.  
Effect: Until the end of the turn, all monsters you control have their Attack Points halved and may attack your opponent directly.  
_Note: The preceding four cards are used by Napoleon in an upcoming episode of GX. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. All names are subject to change._

**ALICE THE WANDERING BISQUE DOLL**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statisics: 3/1000/1000/Dark/Spellcaster/Effect  
Image: A small doll with blonde hair, wearing a blue dress.  
Effect: This monster cannot be destroyed in battle. When this monster is attacked, deal 500 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points. Afterwards, control of this card shifts to your opponent.  
_Note: The attack given for this monster is an assumption. The real attack is unclear._

**DOLL PART BLUE/GOLD/PINK/RED  
**Type: Normal Monster Card  
Statisics: 1/0/0/Dark/Spellcaster  
Image: A cracked and broken doll part, differing depending on the monster. Blue: A head with black hair; Gold: A pair of arms; Pink: A naked doll torso; Red: A pair of legs wearing red shoes.  
_Note: Technically, these are four different cards, but I put them together for convenience's sake._

**DOLL CHIMERA**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: 5/0/0/Dark/Spellcaster/Effect  
Image: A bizarre construct of different doll parts, haphazardly assembled.  
This monster cannot be Normal Summoned. This monster may only be Special Summoned by the effect of "Burial of the Marionette". For each monster in your Graveyard with "Doll Part" in its name, this monster gains 400 Attack Points. When this monster would destroyed and sent to your Graveyard, you may send two monsters with "Doll Part" in their names from your deck to the Graveyard to negate this monster's destruction.

**NECRO-DOLL MEISTER**  
Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: A strange-looking woman with red hair kneeling beside a broken doll.  
Effect: You may activate this trap when a monster with "Doll Part" in its name is destroyed as a result of battle. Special Summon two monsters with "Doll Part" in their name from your deck to your field in Attack Mode.

**THE HAUNTED DOLLHOUSE**  
Type: Field Magic Card  
Image: An eerie, dark house, surrounded by darkness.  
Effect: When a monster named "Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll" shifts control to your opponent, you may Special Summon a monster with "Doll Part" in its name from your deck.

**BURIAL OF THE MARIONETTE**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A rose on top of a small, half-buried coffin.  
Effect: You may only play this card if "Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll" is on your field. Tribute one each of "Doll Part Blue", "Doll Part Gold", "Doll Part Pink", and "Doll Part Red" from your field to Special Summon "Doll Chimera" from your hand or deck.

**DOLL HAMMER**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: The Malice Doll of Demise wielding a giant hammer.  
Effect: Destroy one monster on your field. Draw two cards, and then choose one of your opponent's monsters in play and change its Battle Position.  
_Note: The preceding ten cards are used by Alice in an upcoming episode of GX. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. All names are subject to change._

**JUNK DEALER**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A strange, burly cyborg.  
Effect: Special Summon up to two Machine or Warrior-type monsters from your Graveyard. All monsters summoned this way have their Attack Points halved.

**SKY UNION  
**Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: The Air Fortress Ziggurat, concealed in shadows.  
Effect: Offer three monsters on your field to Special Summon "Air Fortress Ziggurat".

**AIR FORTRESS ZIGGURAT**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: 8/2500/2000/Wind/Machine/Effect  
Image: A gigantic flying battleship, loaded down with guns, with a large scowling head on its front.  
Effect: This monster cannot be Normal Summoned. This monster may only be Special Summoned by the effect of "Sky Union". This monster is unaffected by Magic or Trap effects. If this monster battles a monster with the same ATK, this monster is not destroyed. During your End Phase, you may Special Summon a "Toy Robot Token" (1/0/0). As long as a "Toy Robot Token" is in play, your opponent may not attack any monster other than "Toy Robot Token".  
_Note: The preceding three cards were used by Alistair in the original series episode "Flight of Fear". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**TOY MEMORIAL**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A bunch of Toy Soldiers standing around a broken one of their number.  
Effect: For each card with "Toy" in its name in your Graveyard, you may draw one card from your deck.

_Coming next chapter: A little more light is shed on Lucifer's family life, but that's merely for starters. The third specialist challenges Gerald to a duel, but is this a fair fight or is she a hellhound for hire? Her deck makes claims to an ancient form of honor, but could this be a facade? And why is Alexander acting that way about third Pillar of Darkness? Answers can be found in Chapter 20, "Battlecry"... if I remember to add them._


	21. Battlecry

**_American culture is called "the melting pot" for a good reason - we have elements of the culture of just about every other country in the world here. One element that many find fascinating is an import from Japan: the concept of the samurai and the way of bushido._**

**_This is rather amusing, because both are outdated. The samurai faded from importance with the development of the gun, taking Japan's focus on the sword with him. (It died hard, though - gunmakers who proved themselves were given swords as a reward.) In addition, bushido was more a goal than an ironclad way of life; much like European knights (who themselves faded with the rise of firearms), there were just as many bad samurai as good._**

**_But the samurai is one of those things that sticks in the mind. I've encountered one would-be samurai before, on Monster Island; he was defeated in twenty turns._**

**_Now I'm facing another, and she seems to be a little stronger... and even more obsessed than the last guy._**

**Chapter Twenty: Battlecry**

Slinking from shadow to shadow, a mysterious woman stalked along the roof of the Xcel Energy Center. This proud warrior was clad in the armor of the ancient samurai, finely-crafted katana in hand, and kabuto firmly in place (it had taken a month to learn how to prevent its slipping into her eyes); the Duel Disk slung on her back seemed a modern intrusion. She carried herself with the grace and dignity of the very greatest swordsmen.

It rather spoiled the effect when the air blurred, Hanzaki popped out with a "Good afternoon", and she yelped and fell on her behind.

Quickly rising to her feet, the armored woman pointed her sword at the Lycra-clad individual and shouted, "How _dare_ you dishonor me with your emergence! I should cut you down where you stand!"

"I'll never forgive myself," Hanzaki sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes. His arms crossed under his symbol as he asked, "Are you ready to duel Gerald?"

A smile crossed the woman's face as she resheathed her sword, replying, "Of course I am. My deck is more than prepared to strike down that walking servant of evil."

Hanzaki slid one hand behind the symbol, taking a Duel Monsters card out of the pouch there. "Degas and Alexander sent me to give this to you." He held it out.

Taking the card from him, the woman looked at it before asking, "But what use will this card be? My strategy does not require me to take advantage of it."

"Consider it an experiment," the messenger replied. "There's a very powerful and very important card in Gerald's deck, and they want to see what happens if you dispose of it. You'll know it when you see it. Understood?"

After a moment's thought, Fuu slid the card into the deck on her back, bowing to Hanzaki. "I understand. Tell them I will use it to the best of my ability."

"You'd better." Bowing himself, Hanzaki disappeared with a blur in the air.

It was a moment later before Fuu stood at the edge of the roof, looking down below as Gerald's group arrived. She took a glance at the time/temperature readout on a nearby electric billboard. Fifteen minutes before the battle begins, she thought.

**0000000**

At 12:45 P.M. (Central Time), Gerald Laxina and his allies stood in the street in front of the Xcel Energy Center; they were not afraid of traffic - any cars that might hit them would be driven by non-Darkness Infected, and thus welcomed. Vivienne had produced several blankets from her bag (it apparently had the same internal dimensions as Mary Poppins's bag), and so the group sat down, passing the last fifteen minutes.

Having passed an open Subway on their way to the center, they took advantage of the wait to have lunch. Lucifer and Gerald moved to one side of the entrance, Laura sat a certain distance away from Gerald, and Chad and Vivienne sat down under the electronic billboard announcing the most recent acts. (Acknowledgement was playing there the next week.)

"So, you mentioned you have brothers," Chad noted, taking a bite out of his sub.

Vivienne smiled and nodded, digging through her bag with one hand. "Two of them," she replied. "Stephan and Niccolai, both older than me. I'm kind of the baby of the family... Do you have any siblings?"

"No such luck," the artist said. "So how old are they?"

"Stephan is 28 and Niccolai's 25. I was kind of a surprise. Ah, here we are!" Taking a small, zipped leather wallet from her bag, the girl tossed it to Chad. He unzipped it, discovering it was a photo album. The first picture showed Lucifer standing next to a tall, willowy woman with dark hair - the woman looked so much like Vivienne that she was obviously her mother; the two were flanked by young boys, both with the same white-blonde hair as their father, and the woman was holding a little baby.

As he flipped through the photos, Chad saw the family growing older with each one, although Lucifer was mostly the same with each picture. In the last picture, Vivienne, looking the same as she did now, was standing in front of the two boys, now grown to full manhood. The man on the right, who was shuffling a deck of cards in his hands, had lighter skin than his brother and sister, and was wearing a sleeveless shirt and leather pants; "Stephan" was stitched above the pocket of his shirt. The other man, obviously Niccolai, wore an expensive gray suit, was busily cleaning a pair of sunglasses with a monogrammed handkerchief, and seemed embarassed to be there. Vivienne, meanwhile, was grinning and holding up a Duel Disk; she wore the same dress in the picture that she was wearing now.

"You have an interesting pair of brothers," Chad finally said. "What do they do?"

Vivienne replied, "Niccolai is a jeweler and professional fashion critic; Stephan's a con man. My dad's proud of both of them."

The artist blinked. "Your elder brother's a con man?"

"You should see him deal three card monte. He could deal the layout face-up and still get away with it!"

As they spoke, Laura concentrated all of her attention on the meatball submarine sandwitch in front of her.

Meanwhile, Gerald was seated next to Lucifer, and asked, "Just how old are you?"

The Beloved of Fire tightened one of the rings on his right hand, replying, "I was born from a bonfire on ze edge of ze Seine in 1455... zat would make me just over 550 years old, give or take a month."

"I'm almost afraid to ask this next question..." Gerald paused, and then asked, "How many..."

Lucifer interrupted with his answer: "I have had seven wives over zose five and a half centuries, and have ended up a widower with each one. In total, I have fathered twenty-eight children, twenty-four of which survived childhood." He paused, an expression of age-worn sadness drifting onto his face as his head settled onto his hand. "Vivienne and her older brothers are ze only ones still alive. Zeir past siblings had zeir own families, of course, and ze Allumette family line is deeply established in France and countries surrounding, but since all of my grandchildren and further descendents assume zeir ancestor Lucifer is long dead..."

"I understand," Gerald replied. He tried to imagine what sort of life that was, and failed every time. He then asked, "But why do you get married if that's the case?"

"Ze answer is ze same as ze answer to ze question, 'Why do humans fall in love?' I was made to be as human as I could be, Gerald. Zere is no use serving ze Dreams if I am radically different from ze foremost dreamers on ze planet, non?" He sighed, shutting his eyes. "When I met Fabrizia, I had already seen six women I had loved with all my heart die in front of me. I had seen twenty-four children I had raised and cared for more zan ze entire world die, knowing it would happen ze entire time zey were growing up. And yet I still fell in love."

Even as he listened to Lucifer, the lazy young man couldn't help his eyes straying away. They eventually landed on Chad and Vivienne, who were moving closer to each other; he then looked to Laura, who inched away from them with the same expression as someone who just bit into a rotten part of an apple. His eyes stayed on Laura for a second too long, and she looked at him in confusion. He quickly looked to his deck.

Sitting next to him, the servant of Dreams merely smiled.

**0000000**

Elsewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander were seated before the mirrors, watching the conversation. At least, Degas was. Alexander's attention drifted, and he continually looked towards the door.

Finally, the man in black sighed and said, "It takes longer than that for a Pillar to break out, Alexander. The process won't conclude for another two hours or so."

"Don't you think I know that?" the man in green replied. "It's just... I can't believe we're risking her on this."

"You're the one who suggested her as a Pillar, Alexander," Degas said, pushing his sunglasses back up. "And if I knew you were going to be as protective as this, I never would have allowed it."

"That was back when I thought Jean-Vic had a chance. Gerald and his friends already waltzed through our first two Pillars, though, and now..." Alexander sighed. "What the hell was I thinking?"

Despite his frustration with his nervous, sweating partner, Degas couldn't resist the urge to smirk. "You were thinking, 'How do I keep the one woman in the entire Midwest I care about out of range of our plan?' If I gave a damn about anyone, I'd think along the same lines." The smirk vanished, and the man in black glared through his sunglasses. "Although I doubt my answer would be, 'Make her one of our four major weapons'."

Tightening his grip on his armrest, Alexander focused on the mirrors, saying, "Fuu is about to make her move. If you promise to stop haranguing me about my choice in women, I'll promise to stop worrying and concentrate on the duel."

On hearing that, Degas leaned back in his seat, smiling. "Sounds like a plan... besides, I cannot wait to see what happens when our misguided friend does battle with Gerald Laxina."

"That should be entertaining," the man in green agreed. "I still can't believe she bought everything we told her. I thought samurai were supposed to sense and reject darkness?"

"Samurai are just a human social class. You're thinking of honeybees."

**0000000**

As the hour drew near, Vivienne took her watch from the bag, counting off the seconds: "Three, two, one... and it's 1:00 P.M."

There was a flicker overhead, causing everyone to look up, and a loud cry of, "_Kiai!_" split the air. From the sky emerged a woman in armor, sword at the ready, descending on Gerald with her blade held triumphantly overhead.

Laura sprang to her feet and snapped a kick upward. Her foot connected with the other woman's stomach, causing the breath to rush out of her as gravity added its own force to the blow. Without further ado, the woman slumped off of Laura's foot, knocked senseless as she crashed to the ground. Her sword bounced off the ground and spun away.

All of the onlookers shook their head at that point.

It was a few minutes before the armored woman woke up. She rubbed her stomach and then jumped upright, an impressive feat given the weight of her equipment.

Now that she wasn't diving out of the sun, Gerald and company could get a good look at the newcomer. She was a surprisingly tall girl, as tall as Gerald (although Chad was still the tallest among them), but it was a gawky sort of tall. Her body shape was mostly obscured by the suit of samurai armor she was wearing (which now had a crack over the stomach), itself a size too large for her and hanging around her body awkwardly; the helmet was the worst offender in this regard, as she kept having to shift it back. A look at her face and the long, blonde hair spilling out from under the helmet made her Scandanavian heritage clear.

Gerald couldn't help but think, _My mother was born and raised in Germany. My father's father was the son of immigrants from Denmark, and my father's mother was from a long line of Russians. That makes me half German, a quarter Danish, and a quarter Russian, and I _still_ look more Japanese than she does._

Giving up on the helmet, the woman took it off and set it on the ground, picking her sword up and pointing it at Gerald. "I have finally found you, evildoer!"

There was a pause, and then Gerald pointed at himself, saying, "Evildoer?"

"Do not try to deny your evil ways!" she said. "I, Fuu, samurai of the northlands, will purge you from this world!"

Laura let out a groan, shaking her head. "Why do we always run into crazy women in this city?" she said. Vivienne and Chad both glared at her.

Pulling himself to his feet, Gerald looked Fuu over. "Who do you work for?"

With a scoff, Fuu said, "I work for no one but myself!"

"That would make you a ronin," Laura pointed out, back under control. "The definition of a samurai is that he serves a lord. Are you a ronin, or do you have a master?"

At first the would-be samurai didn't answer, but finally she put her sword away, admitting, "I serve Degas and Alexander."

"Zis may seem ze obvious question," Lucifer asked in turn, "but why?"

"Why must I explain myself to accomplices of an evildoer?" Fuu said, spitting. "None of you follow the way of bushido, so any attempt to explain my actions would fall on deaf ears!"

At that point, Gerald and Laura did something that impressed their friends - at the same time, without any sort of cue, both rolled their eyes upwards and sighed. _I'd bet money she can't even spell "bushido",_ Laura thought.

"This is missing the point," Gerald finally said, looking back to Fuu. "I'm going to assume you're the next specialist."

The young woman nodded, her hair fluttering around her as she took her Duel Disk off of her back. "Personally, I would have preferred to battle you in proper armed combat, but my masters told me you would likely fall asleep before we could even exchange the first blow."

As he checked the straps on his Duel Disk, Gerald muttered, "For once we agree." He then paused, took his deck out, and fanned through it until he found Heaven's Sphere.

"Something the matter, Gerald?" Chad asked.

The lazy young man didn't answer, but his mind was awhirl. _Can I trust this card?_ he wondered. _It doesn't seem to discriminate between friend and foe... after all, it attacked my father without any second thoughts. On the one hand, this girl is a specialist, one of Degas and Alexander's servants... but on the other hand, she seems to be more misguided than dangerous. Can I risk using this against her? More to the point, can I risk not using it?_

As she shuffled her deck, Fuu said, "I will only give you a moment more before I attack, evil one."

"Stop calling me that," Gerald said. He came to a decision; his hands moved the deck forward, leaving the card in it. He then stumbled across something else in the deck and smiled. "I actually appreciate this challenge," he said, shuffling his deck and sliding it back into his Duel Disk. "I recently obtained some new cards, so this is a chance to perform _tsujigiri._"

The would-be samurai raised an eyebrow. "_Tsujigiri_?"

"It's a Japanese word, as you may have guessed, meaning, 'to try out a new sword on a random passerby'." With that, Gerald sank into a kneeling position, legs tucked under him and feet crossed at the big toe. His opponent blinked.

"Risky," Vivienne said. "He's going to conduct the duel sitting in _seiza_ position."

Lucifer cringed. "My body is more fluid zan most humans and even I can't sit zat way more zan ten minutes..."

Bowing, Gerald said, "May you fight with honor."

"I always do," Fuu said, "and I hope you have enough honor to do the same." She returned the bow, yelled, "Hah!", and activated her Duel Disk.

The kneeling man turned his Disk on without the shouting, and both player's Life Points rose to 8,000.

**0000000**

Two men who had special reason to keep an eye on Gerald Laxina were in that part of town. They were, in fact, heading to the same spot.

Sol Kilkarn walked down the road, hands in his pockets and Duel Disk on his hip. He hadn't seen a Darkness Infected all day, and it was starting to bother him. _What happened to them all?_ he thought. _I strongly doubt Degas and Alexander pulled their forces out of this city..._ He paused, shuddered, and thought, _Unless they're planning to overrun other cities with them._

Even as he thought this, an older man in a blue suit ran up to him, cane in one hand and Duel Disk ready to go on the other arm. Sol's thoughts left their current subject, and he sprang into action, activating his own disk and shouting, "Let's go, Darkness Infected!"

"Have at you, spawn of darkness!" the other man yelled back, leaping into place and turning the disk on. Both Life Point counters began to rise...

...and then the two men got a good look at each other. Seeing no signs of the Darkness Infection in each other, they grinned in embarassment, reached down, and shut off their Duel Disks.

"My apologies," said the man in the blue suit, adjusting his top hat. "After wandering throughout this entire city without seeing a single one of the black-marked hooligans, I've gotten a little jumpy."

Sol nodded, adjusting the chain on his neck "Same here," he replied. "Still, it's nice to see another normal human in town. I'm Sol Kilkarn. You?"

Taking off his top hat, the older man bowed, saying, "Demetrius Lark, first among equals."

Sol's eyes widened, and he took Demetrius's hand in his own, shaking it. "Never thought I'd meet someone like you in this town!"

"Well-met," the older man said, returning the shake. "So why are you helping Gerald? I'm doing it because he and his friends got my deck back..."

With a sigh, Sol said, "I was one of the Darkness Infected until Chad beat me. I can't really get over that until I'm sure I've helped them..." He looked away, seeing Gerald and Fuu's duel about to start, and said, "We'll have to talk more later. Gerald's about to duel."

Seeing this, Demetrius frowned. "And this won't be an easy one, if his opponent is the way I think she is," he added. "Darkness Infected are simple, but as far as I can tell from here, she's a normal human."

"Should we go cheer for him?"

Demetrius shook his head, saying, "We'd just distract him. Best to watch from here for now."

The two men sat on the street, taking the duel in.

**0000000**

Setting her fingers to her deck, Fuu drew her opening hand, declaring, "I will begin this battle!" She looked over her hand, and then announced, "I summon Shugenja Sorceress in Attack Mode!"

A young woman emerged from amid a series of sakura trees, their blossoms swirling about her as she walked. She wore a kimono and a straw hat, and there were a series of scroll tubes strapped to her waist. Her expression was a serene one. (1,900/900)

"She knows her opponent," Chad noted. "It's not worth your time to put monsters in Defense Mode against Gerald, so she didn't bother."

"Next," Fuu continued, "I will set two cards facedown and end my turn." The cards appeared before her as she said so.

_Wise move, not placing facedown monsters,_ Gerald thought. _But it isn't quite as good as she thought, not with this card._ "I summon Cyber Tutu in Attack Mode," he said.

The air turned pink, and the sakura blossoms blew around the emerging monster - a little girl in a balleria outfit, with pink hair and a pink visor over her eyes. She piroutted about him, giggling happily. (1,000/800)

Chad leaned forward, murmuring, "Awwwww..." Vivienne grabbed his ear and yanked him back. Watching them, Lucifer had to hide a grin with one hand.

Taking two more cards from his hand, Gerald slid them into the Duel Disk, stating, "I'll set these two cards facedown, and then use Cyber Tutu's effect to its fullest extent - when all of your monsters are stronger than she is, she may attack directly. Therefore, Cyber Tutu, attack her with Fouette Strike."

Turning to Gerald, the Cyber Tutu gave a brief curtsey before dashing across the field in a perfect chasse. She leapt over the head of Fuu's Shugenja Sorceress and whipped her foot around, kicking Fuu square in the face. She staggered back, glaring at the Cyber Tutu as her Life Points dipped to 7,000.

"I think that will be all for me," Gerald concluded.

Fuu took a deep breath, lifting her arms over her head and bringing them down with the palms together (causing Laura to mutter some very harsh language under her breath). She then drew, saying, "I will activate my facedown card, Gift of the Mystical Elf, adding 300 Life Points to my score for each monster in play. That makes 600 points total."

The Mystical Elf appeared behind her, shining her in a bright light and causing the samurai wannabe to relax. Her Life Points rose back to 7,600.

"I summon Beautiful Headhuntress to the field in Attack Mode!" Fuu continued.

Again the sakura blossoms blew about the duelists, as a female warrior emerged from between two trees. She wore a blue kimono, a slightly lighter shade than her hair, and she wielded a sword nearly as long as she was tall. (1,600/800) Spinning the blade around herself, she brandished it at Gerald...

...and then let out a scream as a pit opened directly under her feet, causing her to vanish from view.

Taking the card from his Duel Disk, Gerald slid it into his Graveyard, noting, "Pity about that Trap Hole, but if she'd watched her feet instead of waving that sword about, she could have avoided it."

Off on the sidelines, Vivienne sneezed, rubbing at her nose. "Are you all right?" Chad asked her.

"It's just an old ailment of hers," Lucifer replied. "She's allergic to cherry blossoms."

Laura sighed. "This duel is going to be hell for her, then, if Fuu's monsters are all like what she's summoned so far."

As her hands twitched, Fuu said, "Shugenja Sorceress, attack the Cyber Tutu with Ki Sorcery!"

Taking a scroll from one of the tubes at her side, the sorceress unrolled it, intoning the spell written on it in a low tone. Four arcane symbols flashed in the air over her head, and a shroud of pure light engulfed the Cyber Tutu...

"Activate trap," Gerald announced. "My last gift from Ulysses, known as Silver Dollar."

One silver dollar flipped into the air, and Gerald extended his palm, catching it in his hand. He lifted the coin, tucked between two fingers, and gave it a moment's concentration. Immediately afterward, there was a magnificent flash of light, blowing the Shugenja Sorceress's concentration as she dropped the scroll. The shroud covering the Cyber Tutu evaporated, whereupon she shuddered and hugged herself.

"What was that?" Fuu asked.

Holding up the coin, Gerald explained, "This silver dollar was blessed by the goddess of good fortune as protection for the weak. It can negate any attack on a monster of 1,000 Attack Points or else, but only once. After that, the blessing is gone." He threw the coin away.

"And that makes all three of the cards from Ulysses," Chad pointed out. "Raging Flame Sprite, Cyber Tutu, and Silver Dollar..."

Lucifer crossed his arms, asking, "Who is zis Ulysses?"

"We'll explain later," Laura replied.

Sneering, Fuu said, "I set another card facedown and end my turn."

Gerald drew, making a quick plan in his head. "I play Nobleman of Extermination on your newest facedown card," he began.

The burly knight stepped out of the card as he played it, carrying a gargantuan sword in his right hand. He stepped on the facedown card, raised his blade, and impaled it with one smooth stroke. The card revealed itself as Des Counterblow, soon vanishing into thin air.

"And zat takes care of zat," Lucifer said. "Ze one card he really has to fear is gone for good."

As expected, two more copies of the card vanished from Fuu's deck as they removed themselves from play. She began to seethe.

"Now," Gerald went on, "I summon Jinzo #7 to my field in Attack Mode."

The prototype humanoid robot clanked its way onto Gerald's field, adjusting the panel with the number "07" on his shoulder. It clicked its fingers back into place, as they'd gotten a little loose. (500/400)

Nodding to it, Gerald said, "Jinzo #7, attack Fuu directly with Cyber Glitch."

A ball of purple energy charged up in the robot's hand, and it threw it at Fuu, causing her to twitch slightly as the electricty sank into her system. Her Life Points sank to 7,100.

"Now, Cyber Tutu, attack her again," the lazy man continued, stretching as he said it.

With another curtsey, the little ballerina slid across the street, this time spiraling around the Shugenja Sorceress before performing a jete and kicking Fuu in the jaw. The woman groaned, rubbing her face as her Life Points reached 6,100.

Chad's eyes followed every step of this, as he thought only one word: _Cute..._

On landing, the Cyber Tutu bounced back to Gerald's field, assuming fourth position. He studied this before informing his monster, "Your right foot's too far forward." Blushing, she moved it back a step.

Spitting, Fuu hissed before asking, "Is that all from you this turn?"

"I just need to set this facedown..." He set a card facedown before finishing, "That will be it."

Drawing another card, the woman paused for a moment, eyes flitting between two separate cards, before choosing and playing one. "I summon the Nin-Ken Dog in Attack Mode," she said.

A cloud of smoke filled the air, causing most of the spectators to cough. (Gerald covered his face in time, and Lucifer was unaffected; in fact, he actually inhaled it with a sigh of pleasure.) From the smoke emerged a sight that, once the air cleared, lead to tilted heads: a humanoid dog in a ninja's outfit, poised to attack. (1,800/1,000)

Gerald merely replied, "I activate Gravity Bind, preventing monsters of Level Four or higher from attacking this turn." The orb of quicksilver flowed into being next to him, and it began to pulse, intensifying the gravity around the duelists. The Shugenja Sorceress and Nin-Ken Dog slumped over, trying to stay upright.

"At least it didn't turn out like last time," Laura noted.

"Last time?" Vivienne asked.

Chad replied, "The opponent used nothing but high-Attack Point Level Threes. He then pulled out Man-Thro' Tro' and went to work." He paused, as Vivienne giggled over that name, and continued, "It turned out to be his dad, on top of it."

With a smile, Lucifer said, "I like ze elder Laxina; he's a pleasant man to talk to."

Back in the duel, Fuu groaned, sliding a card into her Duel Disk as she said, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Sliding another card from his deck, Gerald tucked it into his hand, giving him exactly two cards. _One of the nagging problems with this deck is that my hand empties fast and refills slowly,_ he thought. "Cyber Tutu?" he said aloud.

Without any further ado, the little ballerina piroutetted, and then leaned forward and danced toward the samurai...

...only to be interrupted when Fuu yelled, "Activate Waboku!" A ring of priestesses emerged, frowning at the Cyber Tutu, who nervously bowed her head and stepped back.

"I end my turn on that note," Gerald said at that.

Fuu drew, took a card from her hand, and said, "Your tricks will not stop this monster, for he can walk untouched by your defenses. I summon the Monk Fighter in Attack Mode."

A large rock appeared on her field. Even though they knew that the Monk Fighter was a Rock-type, those watching the duel were still confused. In particular, Vivienne thought, Is he going to carve himself out of that?

Then cracks appeared in the rock. They spread, and finally the rock shattered, revealing a muscled young man in a sleeveless yellow shirt and long pants. He pulled his arm back, tensed, and let out a yell. (1,300/1,000) The Gravity Bind pulsed, but its powers didn't so much as distract the martial artist.

"And before you ask," the armored woman continued, "this monster is only Level Three. Monk Fighter, destroy the Cyber Tutu with Quivering Palm!"

_Level Three?_ Gerald thought. He set a hand to his forehead, thinking, _That's twice in one day..._

The monk stepped forward, glaring into the ballerina's eyes. Quicker than she could follow, he thrust his hand out, striking her in the stomach. Nothing happened at first, but then she gripped her stomach, eyes watering. With a peep, she shattered into triangles, and Gerald's Life Points decreased to 7,700.

As Chad moaned in sadness, Laura raised an eyebrow, asking, "What was that?"

Fuu smiled, watching the Monk Fighter take a controlled pose. "The martial arts style of the Monk Fighter includes training in a forbidden art, the Quivering Palm. That attack seems to do nothing at first, but from the moment it hits, a lethal vibration travels through the body of his victim. As soon as he struck the Cyber Tutu, she was already dead..." After a moment's thought, she said, "I'll end my turn now."

Gerald drew, feeling his legs tense under him. He hadn't quite practiced sitting seiza before, and his muscles were calling him on it. He looked at his latest draw, tilted his head, and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I set this card facedown, switch Jinzo #7 to Defense Mode, and set a monster in Defense Mode." The clunky machine's eyes faded as it knelt, crossing one arm in front of itself, even as a concealed monster faded into view next to him. "That will be my turn."

Even as the armored woman drew, she said, "As a wise man once said..."

"If this is going to be one of those 'Confucius Say' things, you can shut up right now," Laura interrupted.

"It would not be, but I see you do not wish to hear it." Taking a card from her hand, Fuu placed it into her Duel Disk, announcing, "I play the Magic Card known as Remove Trap, destroying Gravity Bind!"

A bit of fire leapt off of Lucifer's shoulders as he muttered, incredulous, "People actually play zat card?"

"Not most of the time," Fuu replied. "But I put it in the deck for Gerald - after all, one of his major defenses is a Continuous Trap Card, and he has more than one. Therefore, it is worth my while to have a way to remove it that is not restricted to one per deck, is it not?"

_Logical,_ Chad thought. _Bad luck for Gerald, but still logical._

The quicksilver orb that was Gravity Bind warped and twisted, stretching itself to the breaking point. And then it broke, flinging pieces of liquid metal every which way. Quicksilver being another name for mercury, and mercury being toxic, the spectators danced out of the hologram's way from sheer instinct.

With the destruction of the orb, the unusual gravity that was tormenting the Shugenja Sorceress and Nin-Ken Dog came to an end, and the two rose to their feet, stretching out. The Monk Fighter, on the other hand, merely smiled.

"Monk Fighter," Fuu began, "destroy Jinzo #7 - but do not bother with the Quivering Palm, it will not work on that machine..."

As advised, the monk did not use the forbidden technique. He instead just walked up and smashed the robot's head in with one swing of his arm.

"Nin-Ken Dog," she continued, "attack the facedown monster with Howling Lunar Strike!"

The dog ninja howled, fading away as it did so. The sky briefly turned dark, as a low flute note sounded on the air. Gerald's facedown monster turned face-up, revealing itself to be a one-eyed, grinning pot. (700/600) Another howl sounded, and then the Nin-Ken Dog dove down from the sky, shattering the pot with a swing of its sword.

Fuu gasped as she recognized it. "A Morphing Jar!"

All Gerald did was nod, and then both duelists discarded the remaining card in their respective hands before drawing five cards. While the lazy man didn't mind (all he had was Attack and Receive), Fuu hissed as her Avatar of the Pot slid into the Graveyard.

"I take it you know what that card does now, Laura?" Chad asked. He then ducked as her foot swept overhead.

"My turn is not over yet, Gerald," the would-be samurai continued as she finished drawing. "Shugenja Sorceress, attack Gerald directly with your Ki Sorcery!"

Taking another scroll from the tubes on her waist, the Shugenja Sorceress rolled it out and began to chant. This time, the arcane symbols of the spell appeared around Gerald's body. He looked at them, beginning to sweat, before a yellow light covered his body. He glowed brightly for a moment, and then let out a cry of pain as the light grew to searing intensity, his Life Points dropping to 5,800.

But as the light faded, Gerald's facedown card flipped up. "Attack and Receive will damage you as you damage me," he said. "You take 700 points of damage from this card, and 300 more because I discarded an Attack and Receive for the Morphing Jar..."

Two armored knights stepped out of the card. They crossed their blades and then charged, landing an X-shaped blow across Fuu's body. She yelled as her Life Points fell to 5,100.

As the X faded, Fuu staggered a moment before taking a card from her hand and setting it into place. "I end my turn with this card facedown."

Gerald drew... and then stared, as his latest draw began to glow. _There you are,_ he thought. _I still don't know if trusting you is wise, but you could come in handy. Still, I need to prepare for you._ "I set a monster in Defense Mode," he began, the monster appearing as he said it. "Next, I play Swords of Revealing Light..."

"And I will activate Magic Jammer," Fuu replied, "discarding my Lone Wolf card for the cost. Now your swords mean nothing."

The glowing swords began to cage in the would-be samurai's monsters, but then a ritual circle appeared before her. Smoke billowed out of it, obscuring the light of the swords until they completely disappeared.

Even as his legs cramped, Gerald wiped the sweat from his brow, saying, "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

The two duelists looked to their hands as Fuu drew. Even as Gerald stared at his Heaven's Gift, his opponent raised an eyebrow, thinking, _This is the card Hanzaki gave me. If those looks mean what I think they do, now is the time to employ it._

"I begin my turn by summoning Usagi Warrior in Attack Mode," Fuu declared.

Once again, there was a wave of cherry blossoms, and Vivienne sneezed, sniffling in misery as they blew past. A human-shaped hare emerged into view, clad in blue samurai armor and with his ears tied back into a topknot. He bowed to Gerald as he appeared; Gerald bowed back, wincing at the weight on his knees. (1,500/1,000)

Vivienne couldn't resist, yelling, "Bunny!" before doubling over with a massive sneeze.

"It's Usagi Yojimbo!" Chad called out. "I haven't seen him since that one Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode!"

As she blew her nose into a Kleenex provided by Laura, Vivienne muttered, "One of my brothers had that action figure... too bad the ears broke off."

Taking another card from her hand, Fuu continued, "Now I will equip the Usagi Warrior with the Blade of Bushido, which can only be wielded by warriors or beast-warriors of the Light attribute and increases their Attack Points by 800."

Gerald and Laura again groaned in unison, Gerald thinking, _Must they hammer that word into the ground?_

Laura, meanwhile, thought, _What's the point of even having a card like that when both types have other, almost-identical support?_

Despite their complaints, a sheath still appeared in the Usagi Warrior's hand. He drew the shining blade out of it, brandishing it before him. (1,500/1,000 - 2,300/1,000)

"I set a card facedown," Fuu went on. "Now, Usagi Warrior, attack Gerald's defending monster with Strike of the Hare!"

"Activate Negate Attack," the kneeling man answered.

The armed leporid sprang forward, blade at the ready. As he swung it around into Gerald's monster, however, the air blurred, and his blade caught in nothingness. Uttering what Gerald thought was a very nasty curse in Japanese, the hare braced his foot on the nothingness and tugged, extricating his sword. That done, he bowed again and returned to Fuu's field, glaring at her.

"That will be my turn," the would-be samurai concluded.

While he drew, the lazy young man shifted one of his legs, finding it hard to continue in his position. _At this rate I'll have to stand before the next turn's done,_ he thought. He then took a deep breath, declaring, "I offer my Humanoid Slime as a tribute to summon forth Heaven's Sphere."

The facedown monster revealed itself as a human-shaped slime. It bubbled, and then drew itself inward, forming an orb of ooze over the heads of the duelists. From within it grew an ever-growing light, concealing its outline as it grew and swelled. Soon the slime was gone, leaving only the light behind. This light took shape and solidified, now the marble orb of Heaven's Sphere. (2,000/1,000)

Even as this happened, though, Fuu took on an expression of evil glee, saying, "I activate my trap, Bottomless Trap Hole!"

There was a moment's pause, and then Gerald dropped his hand, the cards fluttering about him.

Underneath Heaven's Sphere, the ground began to crack and break, finally giving away to reveal an infinite empty space. At first, this meant nothing, since Heaven's Sphere floated. But soon, a vacuum came up, pulling on the floating servant of Light. The orb fought against this, pulling back hard, but it was too late - the vacuum won, and Heaven's Sphere vanished into the pit, which disappeared immediately afterward.

"Due to the Bottomless Trap Hole," Fuu explained, still grinning, "your monster no longer exists. Unlike the Trap Hole you carry, this one removes its victim from play altogether! Unless I am mistaken, you have no way to bring it back!"

Once Fuu stopped talking, the truth of the situation hit the spectators. Chad and Laura both recoiled, Laura gasping as Chad grabbed his head with both hands. Lucifer stumbled to one knee, the destruction of the Light hitting him hard, breathing heavily. Even Vivienne, who didn't know what this entailed, was left pale.

And after the shock sank in, Gerald did not scream, nor did he fly into a rage, nor did he cry. In fact, he did not do anything. He merely collapsed onto his face, legs kicking out from under him. He tried to stand, but collapsed again, eyes open and empty.

**0000000**

"So the damned thing worked," Degas noted. "It was true, then - his Heaven's Gift was unprotected from magic or traps."

Alexander smirked, resting his chin on his hand. "Unlike Cards of Night, Heaven's Gifts tend to be... well, more fair," he replied. "One can imagine, for sake of argument, a Hell's Sphere being far more prepared than that. Granted, looking at it would likely be enough to burn out your eye sockets."

"The damage to Gerald is more than I expected, however. I can understand his reaction to Image Sealer - that was a branding iron to his soul - but why would losing a Heaven's Gift hurt him so?" the man in black then asked.

The man in green answered, "He is a Chosen of the Light, and that was a weapon granted him by the Light. Break a samurai's sword, to use a reference Fuu would understand, and you'd have much the same calamity. I'm not sure what the exact injury is, but recovering will not be easy for our lazy young friend."

**0000000**

Much the same conclusion came to Gerald's allies as they stood aside, watching as the young man's prone form twitched. Nobody moved; no one so much as spoke, afraid they could somehow damage him.

After a few moments, Fuu sighed and drew her sword, walking towards her unconscious opponent. "I say enough time has passed," she said. "This counts as a forfeit, and thus his life is forfeit."

Laura stepped in the way, arms at her sides. "Take another step and I'll kick your sword back through your head."

"Commoners should not speak like that to a samurai," Fuu replied, narrowing her eyes. "You have dishonored me with your words. By all rights, I should kill you where you stand for that."

Taking out her deck, Laura searched through it until she held four specific cards, fanning them out. "You're no samurai," she said. "These are real samurai... at least, one of them is." She held up the Sasuke Samurai cards, glaring at Fuu from behind them. "Sasuke Samurai #2 is a farmer, #3 is a ronin, and #4 is a nobleman and you're less of a samurai than any of them."

Tucking her hand into the sleeve of her armor, Fuu raised her sword overhead. "Impudence!" She brought it down hard...

...and faster than anyone could catch it, Laura slid her cards back into her deck and caught the sword between her hands, a thin smile on her face. "You took a step back before you attacked," the redhead said, closing her fingers around the back of the blade. "Work on that and you might be decent with this toy." With one pull, she yanked the sword out of Fuu's fingers, throwing it aside (and nearly impaling Chad, who had to dance out of the way).

During the interlude, Lucifer and Vivienne had kept watching Gerald. Finally, Lucifer called, "He's getting up!"

And indeed, as Fuu and Laura turned their focus to him, Gerald rose to his knees, taking a few deep breaths with his eyes shut. He gathered his spilled cards, and then set one hand on the street and climbed to his feet, staggering for a moment.

Satisfied, Laura stepped away from Fuu, arms crossed. She went out of her way to kick the would-be samurai's sword as she moved.

After a moment, Gerald looked into Fuu's eyes, muttering, "I thought about not summoning Heaven's Sphere, in order to show you mercy. That can be forgotten now." He looked at his cards, took two, and slid them into his deck, saying, "I set these two cards facedown. _Go._"

Retrieving her own hand from her armor, Fuu fanned it, shaking her head. She drew before saying, "I play Pot of Greed."

"And I'll chain my Scapegoats to that," Gerald replied.

As the evil, chortling jar appeared in front of Fuu, four tiny goats bounced into being in front of Gerald. Vivienne let out a little noise of happiness with that occurance, making Chad and her father glance to each other and shrug.

After her second draw, Fuu let out a small laugh, saying, "It seems the Heart of the Cards is siding with me today, evil one..."

"Heart of the-" Gerald inhaled, his limbs still shaking to an extent, and let out a long, groaning exhalation. "You're one of _those_ people, too? I thought being obsessed with samurai was your biggest problem, but it seems I'm wrong."

"I, however, seem to be right about your villainous ways," Fuu replied, narrowing her eyes. "Either way, I sacrifice my Nin-Ken Dog for a far nobler being - a monster known as Yamoto the Noble Samurai in Attack Mode!"

The Nin-Ken Dog bowed before vanishing. As he disappeared, a massive cloud of sakura blossoms blew through the air, sending Vivienne into a sneezing and coughing fit to the point where she collapsed against Chad, eyes watering.

From this cloud emerged a figure clad in gold armor, wielding a shining blade. He bounced the sword on his shoulder, and then bowed to Gerald before moving into an attacking stance. (2,200/2,000)

To everyone's surprise, Gerald gave a low whistle and bowed back, saying, "We meet again, Yamoto." He noticed the confusion and explained, "The last duelist I defeated on Monster Island before losing my duel for a Crystal Star played Yamoto. He was as much of a fool for samurai as Fuu was, actually."

"Fool for... you _baka_!" Fuu yelled. "Yamoto, cleave one of his Scapegoats in half!"

As the samurai charged forward, blade at the ready, Gerald activated his other facedown card. "In response, I activate Widespread Ruin. Goodbye, Usagi Warrior."

The trap did nothing to Yamoto, so he proceeded to cut the little goat in half (to a sigh from Vivienne). However, the Usagi Warrior dropped his Blade of Bushido, gulped, and exploded, leaving a scorch on the field and throwing pieces of blue armor everywhere.

Now digging a hole in the concrete with the toe of her armor, Fuu declared, "Take out two more of his Scapegoats, my loyal monsters!"

There was no hesitation. The Shugenja Sorceress read off another one of her spells, causing one of the Scapegoats to vanish in a puff of smoke as it was incinerated, and the Monk Fighter slid up to the other one and tapped it with the Quivering Palm, whereupon it shattered.

"I'll end my turn with another card facedown," Fuu concluded.

Drawing his next card, Gerald dusted himself off and glanced at the new acquisition. He then slid it into place, declaring, "I activate my Continuous Magic Card, Spell Sanctuary. Both of us may search our deck for a Magic Card and add them to our hands, and as long as the Sanctuary's in play, we may activate any Magic Cards as Quick-Plays."

A brilliant light covered the field before a temple on a hill rose up down the street from the duel. Both duelists took their decks out of their Duel Disks and searched through them. From the sidelines, watching the activity, Chad pondered, "What might they take out?"

"If Gerald has any brains, he'll be looking for one of his defenses," Laura replied. "As for Fuu, she's got control of the field, so who can tell?"

Once he was done searching, Gerald shuffled his deck, slid it back into the slot, and played the card he searched for. "I play my Pot of Greed."

_Bit of a gamble, but what choice did you have?_ Lucifer thought.

The evil jar appeared again, and Gerald drew. "Next," he said, "I set a card facedown, and summon the Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode."

The teleporter flickered into being, and one of the sparks it threw off became an angry-looking white rabbit, ears twitching. (700/500)

"Attack her directly, Inaba White Rabbit," the lazy young man ordered.

The rabbit stepped onto its teleporter, which turned it into the ball of light and fired it at Fuu... and then it hit an invisible wall, turned back into a rabbit, and bounced up to its owner, looking angry.

"Negate Attack solved that problem," Fuu explained.

With a sigh, Gerald said, "I end my turn." He returned the Inaba White Rabbit to his hand after saying so.

Fuu drew next, and then announced, "I will activate my Pot of Charity. By removing one monster of Light in my Graveyard from the game, I may draw three cards, so I will now remove Usagi Warrior and do so!"

A somewhat prettier take on the Pot of Greed appeared in front of Fuu, and the Usagi Warrior appeared on top before sliding in. The hologram vanished just as Fuu finished drawing.

With a smile, Fuu continued, "I set a card facedown and summon Yamoto's favored student, Sashia the Samurai Squire in Attack Mode!"

"Oh, in the name of..." Laura muttered. "Samurai did not have squires! That's a Western concept!"

"For once, I can accept this," Gerald replied. "After all, can you tell me what samurai referred to their students as?"

Laura thought about it, and then shrugged.

"Same here. That being the case, I can let it slide."

During the argument, another monster had taken her place on Fuu's field, almost unnoticed. She looked like a dark-haired version of Fuu - tall, gangly, and dressed in oversized armor. There was a bow and quiver of arrows slung on her back, and she blushed sheepily as Yamoto stared at her. He then smiled, and she sighed in relief. (1,700/1,500)

"As long as she shares the field with Yamoto," Fuu added, "Sashia gains 300 extra Attack Points." And indeed, just being next to her teacher made the younger warrior visibly more confident. (1,700/1,500 - 2,000/1,500)

Quietly enough that the duelists could not hear, but loudly enough for the other spectators to catch it, Laura whispered, "Suck-up."

Gerald readied himself, looking to his last Scapegoat.

"Sashia the Samurai Squire," Fuu ordered, "take out the final Scapegoat!"

"In response," Gerald said, "I activate my Messenger of Peace."

Sashia took the bow and arrows off of her back, nocked the arrow, and drew back the drawstring, aiming for the little goat. Suddenly, however, the goat was in the arms of a kind-faced man in white robes with a peaceful aura about him, who glared at Sashia. The young warrior relaxed her bow, looking ashamed to have even thought about it.

On Fuu's field, Yamoto and the Shugenja Sorceress also lowered their heads, Yamoto returning his sword to its sheath... but the Monk Fighter spat, pounding one fist into the other palm. Noting that, Fuu said, "Perhaps my other monsters are too strong to attack, but the Monk Fighter is under 1,500 Attack Points, so nothing stops him! Attack the Scapegoat with your Quivering Palm, Monk Fighter!"

Marching up to the Messenger of Peace, the Monk Fighter wrenched the Scapegoat from his arms and gave it what looked like a gentle pet before returning it. After a second, however, the Scapegoat shook in the messenger's arms before exploding into shards. The older man shook his head in regret.

"That will be it for my turn," Fuu finished.

Gerald drew another card, smiling as he saw it. "I pay the 100 Life Points to maintain my Messenger of Peace," he began, his Life Points slipping to 5,700.

"And now you'll lose even more as I activate my Solar Ray trap!" Fuu shouted. "For each Light Monster on my field, you lose 400 Life Points, so that's 1,200 in total!"

Yamoto, Sashia, and the Shugenja Sorceress glowed brightly, and then a beam of light shot out of the three of them, piercing Gerald from three different directions. He fell to the ground again, exhaling as his Life Points sank to 4,500.

"And that's still less painful than when Jacob used Just Desserts on him," Chad said just before wincing.

There was a slight groan as Gerald got back to his feet, stretching for a moment before he went on, "Now I summon Mucus Yolk in Attack Mode."

A hideous purple substance bubbled up from a storm drain, pooling at Gerald's feet. It burbled upwards, a pink core forming within it. (0/100)

"Now, I will equip it with the Axe of Despair," Gerald continued.

The axe came into being on top of the Mucus Yolk, sinking into its mass after a moment and swelling it. (0/100 - 1,000/100)

"And now that it has an Attack Score, Mucus Yolk, attack her directly with Damaging Form: Axe," the lazy man ordered, slumping over a few degrees as he said it.

The ooze rose off of the ground, spun rapidly, and turned into a fast-spinning axe. It then flung forward, shearing into Fuu and causing her to cry out as her Life Points dropped to 4,100.

"That will be that," Gerald concluded, "and because you took damage, the Mucus Yolk gains 1,000 Attack Points." The ooze grew even larger, until its mass touched the Messenger of Peace's foot and he kicked it back a step. (1,000/100 - 2,000/100)

As she recovered from the blow inflicted by Mucus Yolk, Fuu began to shudder, finally asking, "How did you draw those? You do not have the Heart of the Cards behind you, yet you drew just what you needed!"

At first there was no response, as Gerald took a few deep breaths, setting one hand to his brow. After a moment, however, he let out a long sigh and replied, "Heart of the Cards... I'd have an easier time believing in that if Duel Monsters cards weren't just ink on cardstock."

Fuu gasped, and then yelled, "You liar! Every card in this game has its own spirit, its own soul! They are unique beings with their own talents! How dare you say such things!"

"I say the truth," Gerald said, cutting her off. He held out the last card in his hand, back to her - perhaps it was coincidence that all his fingers except his index and middle fingers were curled up, and his index finger was hidden behind the middle one. "Take a good look. This is cardstock; in essence, it's the same as the bottom layer of cardboard." His finger tapped against the card's back. "This is ink - a liquid mixture of various pigments, although I don't know if this one uses resin or water-based inks. Together, they make your average Duel Monsters card. Now where in that mixture is there room for a soul?"

Everyone listening to him just stared, jaws on the verge of dropping.

"The answer," Gerald continued, "is nowhere. Duel Monsters don't have souls. How can they? Wouldn't that make anyone who disposed of a torn or damaged card a murderer?" He rolled his eyes, staring at Fuu afterwards. "The Heart of the Cards is little more than a myth. I've seen its fondest believers lose the first rounds of major tournaments while the worst jerks in the building won without even trying hard. If the Heart of the Cards was real, it would be the other way around, now, wouldn't it?"

The would-be samurai was incoherent as far as responding, but if her expression was any sign, she was on the verge of trying to break Gerald's neck.

"I've never needed the Heart of the Cards. I have enough self-confidence to not rely on a fable," Gerald concluded. He then smiled and said, "Now, it's your turn, correct?"

Five seconds later, Fuu let out a noise similar to a whistling teakettle (causing the audience to break out of shock and grab their ears) before drawing her next card. "You will pay in blood!" she screamed. She glanced at her cards, and then threw one on her disk, shouting, "I summon Ancient Master Yoshi in Attack Mode!"

An old man emerged from the card in question, staff held across his chest. He turned and bowed to Yamoto and Sashia, and they bowed to him with the utmost respect. (800/2,000)

"This monster trained every samurai in the proper way of the warrior," Fuu continued. "As a result, all monsters with Samurai in their names gain 500 Attack Points as long as he is face-up! Mataza the Zapper would gain this bonus, too, but I have yet to draw him."

_Huh,_ Laura thought. _I could use one of those myself. It would be a benefit for my Sasuke Samurai group..._

Meanwhile, as Gerald looked unworried, Fuu studied her hand, eyes narrowing. _I have three De-Spells in this deck,_ she thought, _why have I not drawn any of them?_ "I now play Smashing Ground, destroying the monster with the highest Defense on your field," she declared. "Since you only have the one monster, I will destroy that."

The clouds parted, and a giant fist shot out of the sky. It slammed into the Mucus Yolk, splattering it every which way and crushing the Axe of Despair. The fist shook some residual slime off of its knuckles before withdrawing into the air.

"Oh, dear," Gerald muttered, studying Fuu's field. "I just realized... you have two monsters that can attack me directly, even with the Messenger."

The samurai wannabe hissed, "I was going to say that! Ancient Master Yoshi, crack him across the jaw with Master's Staff!"

The old man hobbled forward, age having robbed the speed from his legs. Time had not, it appeared, stolen the strength from his arms at the same time. How else to explain how he snapped Gerald's head to one side with a good swing of his staff?

While Yoshi returned to his spot on Fuu's field, leaving Gerald's Life Points to drop to 3,900, Lucifer couldn't help a chuckle. "Age often equals power, my friends," he said. "I'm living proof."

"You don't look that old..." Chad noted. "At least, not as old as he does."

"It's an illusion," Lucifer replied. He passed a hand in front of his face, and his entire body seemingly aged sixty years before the hand reached his neck. "I can be any age I want - it is simply easier to be young." With that, the Beloved of Fire was back to his early-thirties self.

The duelists hadn't seen that, focused as they were on taking out the frustrations accumulated over the course of the battle. Fuu ordered, "Monk Fighter, show him what your Quivering Palm does to humans!"

Striding forward, the Monk Fighter cracked his knuckles and then thrust his palm out. To everyone's shock, Gerald moved faster than they could follow, blocking the palm with one of his own fists (card tucked into his knuckles). The monk raised an eyebrow, and then threw a punch with his other hand. Gerald's hand snapped in front of it, catching his fist.

The onlookers stared, and then Gerald's Life Points dropped anyway, to 2,600. He withdrew his hand, muttered, "Worth a shot," and then groaned, "Ow..." as he rubbed at his bruised knuckles. Shaking his head, the Monk Fighter walked back to his owner's field.

"I will end my turn on that, evil one," Fuu said.

"We're back to the namecalling again?" Gerald asked as he drew. "As before, I pay 100 Life Points for Messenger of Peace..." As his Life Points lowered to 2,500, he stared at his draw, and then set it onto his Duel Disk, declaring, "I play Exchange, letting me see your hand and trade you one of my cards for one of yours."

Fuu gasped, turning her hand around for Gerald to see. The lazy young man looked it over, eventually gesturing to one card and saying, "The Card of Sanctity will do nicely. Of course, you get my Inaba White Rabbit in the trade..."

"That happened last time he used that card," Chad noticed. "He has the best luck with Exchange..."

Laura asked, "When was the last time he used it?"

"Against the Pillar of Destruction. Like I said, he has the best luck."

Magical hands reached down, grabbing Fuu's Card of Sanctity and Gerald's Inaba White Rabbit and tucking them into each other's hands. Gerald didn't hold onto the card for long, setting it into his Duel Disk and announcing, "Let's draw, shall we?" Both duelists drew up to six cards, whereupon Gerald said, "I summon Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode."

This was the special one, judging by his beatific smile as the squid/snail creature oozed into view, waving its tendrils. (700/500)

"I'll set a card facedown," he continued, "and then attack you directly with Electric Tendrils."

The Servant of Catabolism oozed forward and sprang at Fuu, digging through her armor and electrocuting her as she screamed. Her Life Points plunged to 3,400.

"I believe it's your move now," Gerald concluded.

Fuu shut her eyes, set a hand in front of her face, and then let out the loudest scream anyone had heard outside of stepping on a cat. Chad, Lucifer, and Vivienne all stumbled backwards, while Laura held her ground with her hands tight on her ears. Gerald suffered the worst, and collapsed onto his knees as he shook.

"What in ze name of ze Divine was zat?" Lucifer asked as the echo faded.

"I think that was her battlecry," Laura replied. "Or was supposed to be, anyway, even if it sounded more like a plane crash."

"Thanks to you," Fuu said as she drew her next card, "I now have every tool I need to finish this duel in my favor! But before I do anything else, I will play Dian Keto the Cure Master..."

An aura of light surrounded her as her Life Points returned to 4,400. Gerald glanced to his hand, realizing he hadn't drawn any of his own yet. _I do have all the parts of my new weapon,_ he thought, _which is definitely a help. Now to see if she does what I want..._

"Next," Fuu continued, "I play De-Spell, destroying your Messenger of Peace!"

A magic key appeared in front of the white-robed messenger, emitting a white smoke. The smoke formed a keyhole on the messenger's chest, and the key slid into it. The kind-faced man gasped and vanished.

The armored woman smiled, playing her next card. "By discarding Luminous Spark, I can play the card known as Lightning Vortex, destroying your Servant of Catabolism!"

An arc of electricity passed from one cloud to another overhead, and then a massive bolt of lightning shot down, vaporizing the Servant of Catabolism. "You're digging your own grave, Fuu," Gerald said with a glare as part of his monster bounced past him.

"I am sorry, but you must be struck down," Fuu replied. "Now that all the pieces are in place, I declare my attack! Strike him down, Yamoto! Blade of Honor!"

"And you ran right into it." Gerald gestured to his facedown card, which flipped to reveal an all-too-familiar image. "I take it you've heard of Mirror Force?"

A glowing barrier surrounded Gerald, and Yamoto ran directly into it as he charged. Even as the samurai stumbled back, a wave of burning power engulfed him before it spread out, consuming all of Fuu's monsters. The barrier shattered, and Gerald yawned.

Her confidence gone, Fuu stammered for a moment before she said, "I set a card... facedown... and that will do it."

Gerald drew now, barely looking at his draw. "I start by playing Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two." The angel descended, and he took three cards before swiftly discarding two.

"He picked his discards as fast as Geese did," Chad noted. "There must be a plan..."

As he held up his next card, Gerald smiled. "I have a story to tell you," he began. "Long ago, the Amazons were faced with a rather... unpleasant problem. One of their own had turned to dark power in order to become stronger, but it turned her into a violent lunatic who lusted for battle. She finally killed two other members of the tribe, but the Amazons didn't want to stain their own hands with her blood. In order to punish her properly, they banished her from the tribe forever, dubbing her the Unfriendly Amazon.

"With no choice, the Unfriendly Amazon wandered the world, her thirst for violence unsated. Eventually, however, she noticed that a young woman who had just completed her own warrior's training was following her wherever she went. As she trained, so did the young woman. As the Amazon fought, she fought alongside her. When she needed food, the young woman left it at her tent.

"In due time, the woman introduced herself. She'd seen the Unfriendly Amazon in battle, and wanted more than anything to develop that sort of strength. As she talked, the Unfriendly Amazon felt her need to kill well up within her... but just being around the girl caused it to wane. Whether it was her devotion or something else, the ever-present violent spirit was weakened.

"From that day forward, the Unfriendly Amazon was no longer alone. She was accompanied by her student and... well, friend, a warrior now known as the Loyal Knightess."

"Impressive, but do you have anything you are going to play?" Fuu asked, her voice possessing the same boredom that Gerald's voice always had.

Gerald set his card onto the Duel Disk, replying, "It's something we call Monster Reborn. I just discarded her, so now I'll bring her back... Meet the Loyal Knightess herself, in Attack Mode."

The familiar stylized ankh flashed, and a young woman stood on Gerald's field. She was fairly short, with long red hair and a bemused expression, and she wore studded leather armor. She bore a rapier in one hand, and crossed her chest with it as she bowed. (1,500/1,200)

On the sidelines, Chad, Vivienne, and Lucifer all looked to the monster. Then they looked to Laura, and then back to the monster. It was hard to tell them apart. Laura, meanwhile, smiled warmly at her doppelganger.

"That monster is only Level Four," Fuu noted. "Why did you go to all the trouble of discarding and resurrecting her?"

"So that I could summon another monster this turn," Gerald replied. "I summon Ameba in Attack Mode."

The sewer drains spat out another pile of ooze, much like they had for Mucus Yolk. This ooze was a light blue in color, and bubbled and flowed as if over a fire. (300/350)

Fuu smirked, waving to herself. "Strike me if you dare. I will still survive."

"You will, but only barely. My turn is not yet complete." Gerald slid another card into his Duel Disk. "The third part of the combo is this card, Shien's Spy."

A tall woman in a straw hat stepped onto the field, carrying a wicker basket. She opened the basket, scooped Ameba into it, and walked across the street to where Fuu stood. She then opened the basket and upended it, dumping the Ameba onto Fuu's field.

Fuu blinked, even as the woman bowed and vanished, and then let out a slight laugh. "Thank you for the monster, I suppose, but..." she started to say.

She never finished the sentence, as Ameba shot out a pointed tentacle and rammed it through her chest, knocking her Life Points to 2,400. As the tentacle withdrew, she fell to her knees, breathing hard.

"Did I forget to mention that part?" Gerald said. "Shien's Spy lets me give you one of my monsters, and Ameba deals you 2,000 points of damage if it comes under your control while face-up. And as for the third part of my combo..." He gestured to his Loyal Knightess, who was growling with rage and brandishing her sword. "The Loyal Knightess hates it whenever anyone turns against his, her, or its allies. So when she destroys a monster in battle that used to belong to me, you lose 500 Life Points for each of its Level Stars. Feel lucky Ameba only has one."

Laura snapped her fingers, saying, "That's it! Those are the three cards he bought at Scry!"

"Interesting setup, if a bit tenuous," Lucifer said in turn.

With another yawn, Gerald ordered, "Loyal Knightess, attack Ameba with Loyalist's Thrust."

Raising her blade, the warrior lady danced forward, sidestepping the Ameba before ramming her blade home. The slime exploded, sending Fuu's Life Points to 1,200. After that, the Loyal Knightess stepped forward and, before Fuu could react, slashed her across the face with her sword, reducing Fuu to 700 Life Points. Content, the warrior headed back to Gerald's field.

"Your move," the lazy young man concluded.

Despite everything that had happened to her in the last few turns, Fuu didn't seem unduly scared. In fact, she smiled as she drew her next card, declaring, "Time for my final victory. You see, I have had an emergency plan in place for several turns now. I begin with Call of the Haunted, bringing back Yamoto the Noble Samurai!"

A tombstone rose on Fuu's field, smoke curling around its base. From the smoke emerged the noble warrior, sword at the ready as he strode out. (2,200/2,000)

"Now," Fuu continued, "I switch my Time Wizard to Attack Mode."

From the facedown monster card sprang a bizarre creature, looking like a clock with arms, legs and a cape, wielding a clock-face-topped staff. (500/400)

"I take it you'll use his effect now," Gerald said.

Fuu nodded, and declared, "Time Wizard, Time Magic now!"

The clock magician raised his staff, shouting, "Time Magic!" A spinner lowered into view, the hand rotating rapidly between a time machine shape and skulls.

_If it lands on the time machine,_ Gerald thought, _I'm more than a little screwed. Yamoto has a special form that only comes out when someone wins a Time Wizard spin. If it lands on the skull, this duel is over. Let's see if my luck holds._

The spinner slowed to a halt... and landed on the skull. Fuu dropped to her knees, stunned.

"And that is that," Vivienne noted, blowing her nose afterward. "Time Wizard will now destroy all her monsters and cut Fuu's Life Points by an amount equal to half their Attack Points, and that's lethal damage."

A vortex opened over the heads of Fuu's monsters, sucking them in without any ado, and her Life Points hit zero.

With Fuu's defeat, Gerald smiled, wavered on his feet, and then collapsed to the ground, snoring before his back even touched the pavement. His head never touched the ground, as Laura shot forward and caught it before it could hit the street; she laid it gently down, stepping back once she was sure he was okay.

That done, she stepped back with Chad, Vivienne (who was over her allergies now that the cherry blossoms were gone, although she still sniffled), and Lucifer. No one moved for a few moments, expecting Hanzaki to show up with a gun or some other interruption. Fuu just knelt there, her head down.

After three minutes, Lucifer finally decided to check on the defeated, armored woman. He stepped forward, reaching towards her with a gentle, "Are you all right, madame Fuu?"

With a loud "_Kiai!_", Fuu grabbed Lucifer's arm and flipped him overhead. He hit the street with a flash of fire, dazed on impact. Scrambling to her feet, the would-be samurai rushed to her sword...

Laura sprang out, kicked the blade away, and snapped her foot out, catching Fuu on the shoulder. The two women faced off, and then Fuu half-turned, thrusting her palm towards Laura's belly. The short redhead whirled away from the attack, bounced forward, and rammed one knee hard into Fuu's stomach. As the armored woman recoiled, gasping for breath, Laura jumped back one step before leaping forward.

Her foot hit Fuu's stomach with such force that it shattered her armor. Pieces of ceramic tile flew everywhere as the defeated girl struck the street, clay shedding from her as she bounced once before setting down. Fuu's head dropped, and she was out cold.

Part of the shattered armor rolled up to Gerald's hand. He picked it up as he awoke, glancing at it. "Cheap replicia," he judged.

Seconds after the skirmish, the air blurred, and Hanzaki stood over the unconscious young woman, hands behind his back. He paused, and then asked, "Any objection to me taking her away?"

As one, Gerald, Chad, Laura, Lucifer, and Vivienne said, "Go right ahead."

With a shrug, Hanzaki made a cryptic gesture, the air blurred, and they disappeared.

Once the air cleared, Laura extended a hand, Gerald took it, and between them they pulled him to his feet. Looking down, Gerald noted a rent in the side his shirt. He looked to Lucifer and said, "I can't seem to make an article of clothing last six hours anymore."

"So it would seem," Lucifer replied. "Once zis is over, I will buy you a new wardrobe." He glanced to Laura, who was still wearing the gray jacket, and added, "All of you, zen."

After a moment of disposing of garbage and repacking the blankets, the group headed into the Xcel Energy Center in the name of sweeping for Darkness Infected.

**0000000**

When Fuu woke up, she was staring at a dark ceiling, but with several glowing panels of light tucked into it. After wincing for a second, she sat up, rubbing the spots out of her eyes.

The room was a quiet one, every wall as black as pitch. She was sitting at the center of a large chalk circle, and the dim lights prevented her from seeing much else. She could hear voices in the dark, voices that were familiar to her.

"B-7," said a voice she recognized as Alexander, one of her masters.

A voice that she knew as Degas, her other master, replied, "Hit. You sank my submarine." There was a pause, and then he asked, "C-2?"

"Miss," Alexander replied.

A third voice, which she placed as belonging to Hanzaki, said, "I think she's awake."

Somewhere in the dark, a chair pushed back, and Fuu heard footsteps coming her way. In due time, Degas emerged onto the circle's edge, running a hand over his bald head. His other hand held a knife by the blade. As he approached, she scampered backward, shivering.

"In the feudal era of Japan," the man in black said, "if a vassal failed a feudal lord, the lord would be dishonored. In order to make up for this, if the failure was spectacular enough, the lord would send his vassal a messenge. The contents of the messenge would include a knife." He tossed the knife into the circle, hearing it clang as it landed at Fuu's feet. "This was an order in its own right, an order for the vassal to avenge his lord's honor by committing seppuku."

There was a pause as Degas pushed up his shades, and then he asked, "Well?"

For a moment, Fuu considered her options. She moved onto her knees, reaching out to feel the knife's handle. Her fingers wrapped around it, and she brought it closer to her, staring at her reflection in the blade. And then she raised the knife...

...only to drop it, quivering in fear. "I... I can't do it," she said, gasping as she fell onto her hands. "I'm no samurai. I'm just a girl from Blue Earth, I _can't_ kill myself like that! I'm so sorry!" Tears rolled from her eyes as she placed her forehead to the ground.

With a sigh, Degas said, "If the vassal couldn't bring himself to perform the necessary self-sacrifice, the lord would send another one of his servants. This one had orders to do what the vassal couldn't." He snapped his fingers. "Hanzaki?"

From the darkness at the other side of the circle, Hanzaki stepped out, pulling back the slide on his gun. He jammed it against Fuu's temple and pulled the trigger without a moment's pause.

A shot rang out, and Fuu collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

After a moment, Hanzaki pulled the clip from his gun (which he had flipped up at the last minute), threw it aside, and loaded a new one into it, saying, "I thought it would be quieter than that. I haven't fired blanks in a while."

Crouching, Degas checked the girl's pulse and nodded. "Still alive. Good. It's not worthwhile to kill a good joke. Are you ready, Alexander?"

The man in green stepped out from the darkness on the circle's center, holding the engraved jar. He set his bare foot on the chalk lines, sighed, and said, "This will make six. If he doesn't accept these, I don't know what we'll do."

"Did you check with Caiside and Klaus?" Degas said as he rolled up his sleeves and Hanzaki stepped away.

"Klaus couldn't get a good reading on how our next battle will go, and Caiside just kept saying, 'Confusion over the fire's part' over and over again..." Alexander opened the jar, concentrated, and winced.

The chalk lines flared up, and Degas began to chant, drawing a white fog from Fuu's body...

**0000000**

An hour later, Gerald's party came to a pair of disheartening conclusions. The first was that there was no way for five people, even split into two groups, to sweep an entire stadium for Darkness Infected.

The second was that even if they could, the odds of finding any were probably less than the odds of drawing all five pieces of the Forbidden One in your opening hand. Wherever Degas and Alexander had hidden their infected minions, it wasn't in there.

"Waste of time," Chad muttered as they walked back outside. "Personally, I think we could have stopped searching once we knew there weren't any in the main concourse."

Lucifer shrugged. "It was worth a shot, I suppose." He then sighed, turned to Gerald (who was slouching along on their left) and asked, "Something has bothered me for a while, Monsieur Laxina. After Heaven's Sphere was removed from ze game, you were out for quite some time. What happened?"

_Heaven's Sphere vanished, and Gerald plummeted into the Bottomless Trap Hole with it, spinning helplessly as he fell. An endless wind rushed up, ripping past him as he continued to descend. At some point, he hit terminal velocity, but he didn't feel like he'd stopped accelerating._

_And then a hand shot out, grabbing the front of Gerald's shirt. Defying all physical law, Gerald was not, in fact, killed by the sudden shock of this violent stop. He instead hung from the hand, breathing hard._

_The hand pulled, and Gerald stumbled onto a ledge. He looked at his rescuer in confusion; aside from the hand, which was hidden in a white glove, all he could see was a white robe hiding all features of the one who'd caught him. But sitting at the robe's edge was a Servant of Catabolism, its tentacles currently exploring Gerald's shoe._

_The robed figure turned and walked into a door that appeared from nowhere, the Servant following. After a moment, Gerald followed them..._

"I can't recall," Gerald said. "There was a fall, and a white building, and..." He sighed. "It was like a dream, and most dreams disappear when you wake up."

"Ah," Lucifer said. "Zat zey do... When you work for zem, you get used to how evanescent dreams tend to be."

Chad spoke next, moving away from Vivienne to walk beside Gerald. "Did you mean what you said to Fuu about ink and cardstock?" he asked.

At that point, Gerald broke into a light chuckle. "Not nearly to the extent she thought," he replied. "For the most part, I did that just to get her so angry she'd lose her focus. It worked, you must admit..." He then paused, and continued, "I think the philosophy's foolish - it leaves no room for personal skill or human spirit - but I also think there's some truth to it. After all..."

Instead of finishing the sentence immediately, Gerald took out his deck and drew a card from the center. He held it up. It was the Servant of Catabolism. "This card is closer to me than some human beings," he concluded.

Taking out his own deck, Chad turned over the top card. It was Chiron the Mage. He wasn't surprised.

Laura, meanwhile, fanned her deck out, picked a card, and sighed in relief when she saw her draw. The card was Zombyra the Dark.

The Allumettes didn't bother with this. Vivienne wasn't sure which deck to use, and Lucifer needed no reassurance.

**0000000**

After the duel, Demetrius and Sol had gone their separate ways after a brief nod and sharing of notes. Now Demetrius Lark was headed through the Midway area, walking stick at his side.

To his surprise, as he rounded a corner, he saw a group of uninfected people. All were kneeling, hands before them, and they listened intently to another uninfected man. The man wore a black suit and backwards collar, and he was reading from a battered Bible.

"'Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,'" the man read. There was a conviction in his voice that was inescapable.

Even though he felt rude just thinking it, Demetrius walked up and called, "Excuse me, Father!"

The crowd glared at him, and Demetrius stepped back, but the priest merely smiled. "Relax, my friends, he means no ill will," he told his audience. He then looked up and said, "What is the problem, sir?"

"I was wondering if you've seen anyone with the Darkness Infection walking around here," Demetrius asked, sweating slightly.

The priest shook his head, adjusting his glasses. "I haven't seen anyone with those symptoms since yesterday, and I doubt if any of the ones I did see could walk. But why would you seek someone like that out, if I may ask?"

"It's a favor for a friend of mine. I duel and defeat them so that the Infection's purged from them. Consider it an attempt at urban renewal."

"Well, that sounds like an honest occupation," the priest said. "I am sorry I couldn't help you." He raised his hand and crossed the air, saying, "May the Lord be with you."

"And also with you," Demetrius said, bowing slightly. "Thank you for your time, Father." Feeling slightly better, he headed off down the street, continuing his search.

As he returned to the congregation, the priest thought, _So that's one of the two who kept defeating the newly infected... Degas and Alexander will need to know about this. He could be a most dangerous opponent... but he was a nice person. I wish we weren't going to do what they'll order done to him..._

"Let us pray," Father Young said, and the assembled innocents bowed their heads in silent prayer. He let out a long, drawn-out sigh as he closed his Bible, thinking, _I don't know how many times over I've damned myself, but it grows by the day_...

And next to him, unnoticed, a shadow began to lengthen, stretching across the sidewalk.

**USAGI WARRIOR**

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: Beast-Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 4/1500/1000

Image: A hare clad in armor, ears tied in a topknot and ready for battle.

Flavor Text: Part hare and part soldier, this dedicated martial artist brings luck to his allies and misfortune to his foes.

**YAMOTO THE NOBLE SAMURAI**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 6/2200/2000

Image: A mighty warrior, clad in gold armor and carrying a perfectly-forged sword.

Effect: If this monster battles with a Fiend-Type Monster, increase its ATK by 500 points during the Damage Step.

**SASHIA THE SAMURAI SQUIRE**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 4/1700/1500

Image: A young girl in armor, wielding a bow and arrow, standing alongside a proud Yamoto.

Effect: Increase the ATK of this monster by 300 points every "Yamoto the Noble Samurai" that is face-up on your side of the field. Once per turn, you may select one "Yamoto the Noble Samurai" on your side of the field. If you do, the ATK of this monster becomes 2600, and the chosen "Yamoto the Noble Samurai" cannot attack during that turn.

**ANCIENT MASTER YOSHI**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/LIGHT/Lv. 4/800/2000

Image: An old and wizened man, wielding a staff, standing before a bowing Yamoto and Sashia.

Effect: When this monster is face-up on your side of the field, increase the ATK of all monsters on your side of the field with the word "Samurai" in their names (or who are named "Mataza the Zapper") by 500.

_Note: The above four cards all first appeared in Dark Sage's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Legacy of the Duelist". All creative credit goes to him._

**SHUGENJA SORCERESS**

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: Spellcaster/LIGHT/Lv. 4/1900/900

Image: A young woman in a silk robe, a set of scroll tubes strapped to one hip.

Flavor Text: A specialist in the arts of ki magic, this young woman has faced armies of demonic forces and emerged untouched.

**BLADE OF BUSHIDO**

Type: Equip Magic Card

Image: A shining blade engraved with glowing kanji.

Effect: This card may only be equipped to a Warrior or Beast-Warrior monster of the LIGHT Attribute. Increase the ATK of the equipped monster by 800 points.

_Note: The above two cards first appeared in Dark Sage's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Mandate of Heaven". All creative credit goes to him._

**POT OF CHARITY**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A ceramic jar with a gentle expression.

Effect: Remove one LIGHT Monster in your Graveyard from play. Draw three cards from your deck.

_Note: This card was created by Shuppet Master for use in his story "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Sister of Anansi". All creative credit goes to him._

**LOYAL KNIGHTESS**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Warrior/FIRE/Lv. 4/1500/1200

Image: A red-haired young woman in armor, wielding a rapier, chasing a panicky Goblin Calligriogropher away from a blushing Unfriendly Amazon.

Effect: If this monsters destroys a monster on your opponent's field in battle, and you previously controlled the destroyed monster, your opponent loses 500 Life Points for each Level Star of the destroyed monster.

_Coming next chapter: The forces of Shadow make a play of their own, taking advantage of a spell they've lifted from Degas and Alexander. The Light can't fight the Shadow, but Dreams can... and they just happen to have a man on the scene. Lucifer finally gets to duel, and his opponent is someone certain video gamers may well recognize. But what can the Beloved of Fire do against invaders from another planet? Find out in Chapter Twenty-One, "Supernova"!_


	22. Supernova

**_You may call me Lucifer Allumette. I am also known as ze Beloved of Fire, and at different times I have held ze titles Keeper of ze Eternal Flame, Lord of ze Burning World, and for a brief period in ze 1950s ze Scion of All Dreaming. (Zat is a story for another time, and I don't zink Maitre Merlee would approve my telling it anyway.)_**

**_Zough I serve ze grand forces of Dreams, ze force of change and inspiration, circumstances make strange bedfellows. Now I am working alongside Gerald Laxina, ze Chosen of ze Light, force of calm and peace. And zere are few more calm and peaceful zan him - I doubt anyzing could make him act any way other zan calm and peaceful..._**

**_But zere is a catch. I am Dreams, and he is Light. I cannot fight against ze enemies he deals with - all I can do is aid him in ozer ways. But by ze same token, he cannot fight against my enemies in ze Shadows. And one of zem just showed up._**

**_Zis fight is mine to battle. And in truth, I have waited for zis opportunity. Well, zen... let us dance!_**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Supernova**

In places beyond the human mind's ability to comprehend, outside the scope of this reality, a force neither man, animal, nor spirit turned its attention off of its newest Chosen and turned the focus of its concentration to the activities of its neighbors. Its current manifestation was the traditional one, that of a golden orb orbited by lesser orbs of similar appearance.

**How odd,** it thought. **Why does it move now? It agreed that it would wait for this issue to be settled before it would act. This is a serious violation. The counterpart force must hear of this.**

With an act of will long since turned second nature, the force called to another, **You have seen this?**

_We have,_ the addressed thought in reply; it appeared before the first force, manifesting as a massive, fluctuating column of pink fog. _In truth, given our counterpart's nature, we anticipated its breaking of the agreement. From its current actions, we believe it will act in the area you and your counterpart are competiting in._

**Due to its recent weakness,** the first force thought,** it will have to act through indirect proxy. None of its Chosen are in the area, and it has not nearly enough power in the region to create a new one or to transfer its active ones.**

The second force replied, _This is true. However, your counterpart's agents have a means by which my counterpart can easily create a servant with little use of power. We have read its state of mind, and although the proxy will be weak, it will be able to act. That is all it needs._

The first force thought inwardly for a moment, and then mused, **Our Chosen is unable to act. As weak as your counterpart is at the moment, it can act almost unopposed...**

_Not so,_ said the second force. _One of our own agents is there, working alongside yours. And nothing that our counterpart can dredge up can hope to defeat him._

**0000000**

The clock struck four in the afternoon just as Laura struck the wall, her hair billowing around her as she shouted, "Where the hell _are_ they?"

The wall in question belonged to the Hill House, one of the oldest and most expensive houses in all of St. Paul, which explained Chad's wince as she struck it. The group of five had crossed the city twice over, from Battle Creek to Merriam Park and back, over the last two hours and not found a single trace of the Darkness Infected. This return to Summit Hill was mostly out of desperation... that, and Vivienne wanted to see the pipe organ in the Hill House.

Despite its size and the sheer irony of it, the Hill House had proven to be yet another failed search, which was behind Laura's sudden violence. Vivienne, however, had enjoyed seeing the pipe organ.

Emerging from the building behind her, Gerald shook his head. "What sense does this make?" he questioned. "Yes, none of them managed to defeat me, and it prevents me from getting visions... but what do you do with about 200,000 people?"

Lucifer, who was last to step out of the building and directly behind Vivienne, tucked his hand in his chin and narrowed his eyes as he said, "A unpleasant zought just came to me. Zese two cities, while large, are still somewhat limited. What if zey are just ze start?"

Chad, sitting down on the front step next to Vivienne, replied, "Come to think of it, the Darkness Infected aren't the only thing missing."

"Huh?" Laura said, cracking her knuckles and trying to calm down.

"It's four in the afternoon and we haven't even heard of the third Pillar of Darkness."

Gerald shut his eyes, deep in thought (at least, everyone hoped it was thought) for several moments, and then opened them as he said, "You're right... by this point yesterday Menardi had put us through half of her gauntlet. Two days ago I was already battling Jean-Vic by four. But so far today we haven't even heard the third Pillar's name..."

Lucifer now asked, "I forget - which one is ze Zird Pillar?"

"According to Jean-Vic," Chad said, "there are four Pillars - Destruction, Terror, Chaos, and Death. We can assume they're coming in that order. You have to wonder what the Pillar of Chaos will be like."

Vivienne shivered a little. "I've run into Chaos decks before," she said. "It won't be fun."

Having regained her cool, Laura shook her head, saying, "We can't assume that will be their deck, though. After all, by that logic, Menardi should have used the scary deck themes like fiends or zombies."

"And given that the Pillar is Chaos, assuming anything is likely a bad idea," Gerald added. "The odds are that it won't be what we think."

Lucifer then chuckled and said, "Or it will go out of its way to not be what you zink."

**0000000**

Somewhere in the city, deep within Degas and Alexander's lair, the man in black and the man in green were not watching the mirrors and thus could not make a snappy comment. They instead stood in the pillar room, eyes on the northernmost pillar, watching as it began to crack and pieces of obsidian fell off of it.

Alexander rubbed his hands together in a hand-washing motion, eyes flicking up and down the pillar repeatedly. At several points he stopped doing that only to run his hands through his hair.

"Calm yourself, Alexander," Degas finally said, putting a hand to his forehead. "You're acting like a child."

Taking a few deep breaths, Alexander lowered his hands, although he still looked tense.

Finally, there was one last loud crack, and the pillar shattered. From within it emerged the least likely Pillar anyone would expect - a young woman, no older than eighteen. She had black hair to her waist with blue highlights in it, her bangs hiding her eyes, and her skin was a fair auburn. She was a few inches shorter than Alexander, and was wearing a purple t-shirt and blue jeans.

As she fell forward, the man in green stepped out and extended his arms. She fell right into them, and he held her close, head bowed over her. Behind him, Degas put his head in his hand, muttering under his breath.

The young woman soon awoke, blinking and murmuring, "Alexander?"

"Bethany," Alexander whispered, holding her tighter.

Bethany reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering, "Is it my turn?"

"Not just yet," the man in black said, clearing his throat to remind both of them he was there. "We actually have another plan in mind before we send you out, but he insisted you needed time to recover from your transformation."

The man in green glared at him, running his fingers through Bethany's hair as he said, "Is that such a bad thing?"

Holding up his hands, Degas said, "Did I ever say that was a bad thing? There's no reason to overreact, Alexander..." He then picked a shotglass up from the floor, striding forward. "Let's see..."

The girl pressed tighter to Alexander, who stroked her hair, whispering, "Relax, my Bethany. This is just a test to see if you're ready."

Carefully, Degas held the glass near Bethany, watching the liquid in it. "It starts as water," he reminded himself.

Within the glass, the water began to shift and flow, even though Degas was holding it still. There was a slight noise, and then it changed into a thicker, white liquid.

Reaching out, Bethany dipped her finger into the glass (causing it to change into a Dixie cup) and tasted the liquid. "Milk?" she whispered. "I turned water into milk?"

The liquid turned brown, and Degas tasted it, muttering, "And into Coke..." He paused, tasting it again. "And Pepsi..." The liquid turned red, and he drank it, concluding, "And a most fine 1931 cherry brandy. You are the Pillar of Chaos, Bethany. Around you, reality isn't sure what it's doing."

The thus-identified Pillar tucked her head against Alexander, whimpering slightly. Before he could do anything to comfort her, a loud explosion echoed through the lair.

Alexander lifted his head, muttering, "What the hell?"

Shutting his eyes, Degas mentally ran through each room in the lair, and then his eyes opened. "The laboratory... Something's broken into the lab!" He turned to Alexander and said, "Get Bethany to her room and then follow me!" With that, he turned and ran through the door.

The man in black emerged in the laboratory, and then stumbled back, coughing. Despite the explosion, most of the room's contents were still in one piece... with the exception of the central table. The central table was blown into a thousand pieces, most of which were only slightly too large to call splinters. Smoke rose from the wreckage, and the CD wallet was thrown to one side.

At the center of the shattered wreckage of the main table, a purple orb hovered over a small CD, which sat label-side down on the floor. The orb continually writhed and pulsed, as if something alive were trapped within and couldn't escape. As the orb lowered, purple lines of energy drew themselves around it in a recognizable pattern.

"_Omnu omni hasak tor..._" a harsh female voice recited. The CD began to glow, energy infusing it.

The voice continued, "_Tier-Antorbok-Aretak-Pargon-Asmodeus..._" With each word spoken, a purple rune burst into being on the edges of the circle. Energy danced around it, and the lines grew bright enough that even Degas had to look away.

"_Ah quan lahts reh tap soo! Ah quan lahts reh tap soo!_" the voice finished, and the lines burst into an explosion of violet light before burning away. With that, the orb vanished as well, leaving only the CD in its wake.

Once the light faded, Degas knelt, gathering up some of the scattered papers. Alexander entered just afterwards, asking, "What was it?"

"The Shadows have finally made their move," the man in black replied, straightening the papers in his hands. "It cast the spell for summoning a video game character and then left. Go see what game it used, will you?"

The man in green stepped over a piece of the table, picking up the fallen CD. "It's a Gamecube game," he said before turning it label-side-up. Narrowing his eyes, he showed it to Degas.

Degas looked at it and shook his head. "What a pity. There's only one character worth using in that game... even I wouldn't do that to her." He dusted off and set the papers aside, saying, "Put the game back and report to the mirror room."

A minute later, both men sat in front of the mirrors, which were turned to Gerald's party on the road. "How did the Shadows know that spell?" Alexander asked.

"There's so much background magic in the laboratory that every spell you cast resonates in the air for about a week," Degas replied. "All you need do is read that."

**0000000**

At first it had seemed like nothing would break the cloud of overhanging tension following Gerald and his allies after their discussion in front of Hill House. However, this cloud wasn't as dense as it had appeared; it vanished when actual clouds rolled overhead.

Despite being in the hands of the Darkness, the Twin Cities had enjoyed clement weather for the past few days. In fact, the emerging clouds were the first ones anyone had seen in quite a while. And they were large, black ones at that.

The first raindrop hit Laura's shoe as she was sitting in the back of the Corolla, which was heading for the Ordway now. The second grazed her hand, and she looked at it in wonder. "Hmmm," she murmured.

A few more drops of rain hit Gerald's pantsleg, and he glanced at them. "Somehow I expected the weather to hold out until one of us lost," he said. "It seems the weather doesn't care for drama."

And then the dam burst, and it started to pour down rain.

Lucifer uttered a curse, and then began to flinch as the rain hit him. Every time a raindrop touched his skin, it flashed to steam, giving him the impression of smouldering after a few moments. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Stop ze car! We have to get in, now!"

Chad glanced to him, and then pulled the car to a stop in front of what, judging by the Pepsi sign over the door, was a diner. The Beloved of Fire sprang out and ran through the door without any explanation, and the rest of the group followed after him.

Once he was inside, Lucifer let out a sigh of relief, sitting on one of the tables. "Ah, zis is better," he said, tugging a napkin out of its holder and wiping off his forehead. A cloud of steam began to surround him, and his otherwise-immaculate suit had several black splotches on it..

"What's this all about?" Chad asked Vivienne.

The girl replied, "Dad hates rain. Actually, he hates cold water in general. It's obvious if you think about it."

Laura couldn't help a snicker, moving up to Lucifer and saying, "What? It's not like rain can kill you..." She then paused, frowned, and said, "It can't, can it?"

"No, but it hurts like ze devil," he replied. "Imagine being caught in a shower of razor-sharp needles. Zat's what it's like for me to get caught in ze rain."

After a group wince, the assembled party looked around the diner. From the decor, it seemed that the diner was still in service, but the Darkness Infection had taken out its staff. The walls were a dark brown, constrating with the white plastic of the counter, and there was a chalkboard over the kitchen announcing that the last special was a Reuben, while the last soup of the day was potato. The front of the diner consisted of the counter and several booths (one of which was Lucifer's current seat); the building extended in front of them, showing several tables in another room. There was a gumball machine and several coat hangers in a niche by the kitchen.

Reaching into his pocket, Gerald fished out a quarter, stepped over to the gumball machine, and dropped it in. He turned the handle and caught his purchase, frowning. "Drat. Grape," he muttered. He then shrugged and tossed it into his mouth, chewing as he glanced to the clock, noting the time; it was 4:17.

Looking around, Chad hopped the counter and looked into the kitchen. He then exhaled. "The power's still on," he said. "That means the refrigerator still works, and I'm guessing they were either just opening or just closing when the infection hit, so no food's out. Thank heaven for small favors."

Sitting at the counter, Gerald tucked his gum into one cheek and muttered, "Since we're stuck here until the rain stops, does anyone know where they keep the radio in this sort of place?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, and then everyone shook their head. Vivienne then held up her bag and said, "I think I have one in here somewhere. Let me check..."

As she opened the bag, rummaging through it, Laura (seated next to Gerald at the counter) turned to Lucifer, asking, "Tell me - is that bag magic somehow? There's no way any normal bag that size holds that much."

"A simple Dreams spell zat can be described as ze real-world equivalent of a 'Portable Hole'," he replied. "It leads to a small cache on anozer plane of existence. I taught it to her myself." He grinned. "I would say I'm a good teacher, non?"

Smiling, Vivienne kissed her father's cheek (and Laura's eyebrow twitched). "Mmm... you are, dad." She then held up a small radio, saying, "As it happens, I did have one in here, after all." She set it on the table, extending the antenna, and flicked the power switch.

The familiar sound of "Good Times Roll" by the Cars filled the diner, and everyone relaxed for a moment, watching the rain fall.

And then the radio went dead. Vivienne blinked twice, and then smacked it, yelling, "Don't pull this on me, you little metal tyrant! I put fresh batteries in you just last week!"

There was a further moment of silence, and then a haunting five-note tone, one that sparked the memories of several of the gathered listeners, briefly played on the air, apparently from nowhere. Shortly afterward, a longer tune began to play.

As the song played, Gerald shook his head. "Music from nowhere," he said. "Just like when Geese showed up. A video game character's coming... I didn't think Degas and Alexander would resort to that again so soon."

"Which one?" Laura said. "I didn't recognize the music."

Chad was about to say something, but then, to his surprise, Lucifer snapped his fingers. "Ze first tune was from Metroid," he said. "It's ze tune that plays in every game at ze beginning and when you load a file - it plays when she first appears. Zis following tune..." He paused. "It's ze Tallon IV overworld theme from Metroid Prime. _Mon Dieu_, don't tell me..."

Blinking, Chad asked, "You've played Metroid?"

"I love Metroid, Monsieur Montmelier. And if ze newcomer is ze character I think it is, I have no respect for Monsieurs Degas and Alexander."

The first melody played again, and a strange light glowed in the back room of the diner. A humanoid shape faded into view as the light vanished, and then it stepped forward.

The shape turned out to be a tall human figure, clad entirely in a metal suit. The suit was mostly orange, with a red helmet and chest, and had surprisingly large shoulders. The great majority of the right arm was a green metal gun barrel, and there was a green visor in the helmet. It was hard to make anything out through the visor, but the face within seemed to be female.

"_Ah, rien_, it is you," Lucifer said, staring at the intruder. "Madame Samus Aran, I presume?"

The armored woman glared at him, and then said, "You are correct. I am Samus Aran, bounty hunter under the employ of the Galatic Federation. And you would be Lucifer Allumette, alias the Beloved of Fire. I am here to take you into custody."

"What's ze crime?" Lucifer asked, narrowing his eyes.

"To be honest, I don't understand the charges myself. I was called away from my activity on Tallon IV for this job." She sighed hard, causing a rustling of feedback through her suit's speaker.

_It's the Metroid Prime version_, all right, Chad thought. Smirking, he called to her, "Hey, a word of advice - if you ever see a baby Metroid, don't shoot it!"

Glaring at him through her visor, Samus replied, "Fine. I'll take that into consideration." She then pointed her gun-arm at Lucifer, saying, "Do you surrender or will I have to duel you into submission?"

Fire flickered around Lucifer's fingertips, and he raised an eyebrow, studying the bounty huntress.

Laura looked to Gerald, and he said, "I don't get it, either. Why is a creation of Darkness so intent on battling Lucifer when he works for Dreams?"

And then Lucifer chuckled, stepping back a step and shaking his head. "Zere isn't any Darkness in zis one, Monsieur Laxina. Not in ze slightest. Zis, my friend, is an assassin sent by ze Shadows; I'd recognize ze aura after a zousand years." He chuckled again. "Took zem long enough. However, I must ask: why are you borrowing a trick from ze Darkness?"

For a moment, the bounty huntress was silent, and then she replied in a tone entirely unlike herself... or anything else conceived of by man. The words were completely unfamiliar to the humans present (or to Vivienne, for that matter), but the message rang in their heads. "_Ah, Beloved of Fire... in truth, those two imposters to the throne of Darkness borrowed a trick from us. The spell animating this construct is modified from a summoning spell used by the Shadow Queen herself. This isn't borrowing; it's reclaiming. And any method will do when it comes to eliminating a pest like yourself._"

"What language was that?" Chad asked.

Lucifer spat, muttering, "The language of Shadows, Tenebreac. Zis, by contrast, is Mythian, ze language of Dreams..." He then spoke in a language that, although Gerald and his friends couldn't understand, Vivienne could, judging by her expression. Again, they knew the meaning: "_You think you can defeat me? I've lived for five and a half centuries, and I've battled a thousand of your agents. In the oldest game, in duels of magic, in Monomacy, in Duel Monsters... I've never lost, not even once. I accept your challenge, and may the Divine have mercy on you._"

"_Shall we make it a Dream Battle or a Shadow Game?_" the voice speaking through Samus asked.

"_Neither,_" Lucifer replied. "_Your puppet doesn't merit it. This will be a duel without any tricks._"

The voice faded, and Samus held up her gun-arm, saying in her normal voice, "If you two are done negotiating, I'd like to battle before the Space Pirates finish taking over the planet, thank you!"

With that, Lucifer moved towards the back room of the diner, holding up his hands. Two wheels of fire burst into being, and he spun them around his body, whirling around as he did so. He snapped his arms out to his side, and the fires became two steel rings with blades emerging from four points; inside the rings were two crossed bars, by which he held them.

In one motion, Lucifer bowed his head and threw his arms across his chest; the rings joined as they met, becoming a Duel Disk, which he held by the corners. It was made out of blackened metal, resembling the two rings connected at one of the blades; the deck slot was at the center, its edges lined with brilliant purple, and the tray was fixed on one edge of the rings. This he strapped to his arm.

There was a pause, and Gerald and his friends then clapped.

"Show-off," Samus muttered. She tapped a button, and a series of buttons rose up on her gun-arm. "My own deck is a digital file within this suit; I will conduct all my actions through this outlet." She pressed a few more buttons, and a Life Point counter appeared.

With a snap of his fingers, Lucifer took his deck out of the air. He then paused, and shook his head. "You don't deserve my true strength." He tossed the cards in the air, and the deck spun around him. Several cards turned to flame for a second, and then he regathered them and slid the deck into his Duel Disk.

Vivienne blinked, saying as the group moved to the counter, "I see he's using the weaker version..."

"Weaker version?" Laura asked.

"There are seven cards in his deck that he won't use if he doesn't think the opponent is good enough. They're actually the core of his deck, so when he switches them out, the deck's weaker. I think it's a point of pride."

Once they were done, Lucifer extended a hand, saying, "Take ze opening move, Miss Aran." He activated his Duel Disk.

"My pleasure," Samus replied, pressing a button.

The word "GO!" flashed on her arm, and both Life Point counters rose to 8,000.

With the press of a button on her arm, Samus added the first card to her hand. Her eyes flicked along them, and then she tapped a few buttons, causing a facedown monster and two facedown cards to appear. "I set a monster in Defense Mode," she said, "place two cards facedown, and end my turn."

Fire flickered around Lucifer's fingers as he drew his own opening card. "Let us begin," he said. "I start my turn by summoning ze Darkfire Soldier #1 to ze field in Attack Mode!"

There was a gout of flame, and then a blonde man with bronzed skin strode out of the fire, wielding a large steel hook. He wore a shoulder guard and black pants, and seemed unconcerned that he'd just walked out of the flames. (1,700/1,150)

"Next," Lucifer continued, "I shall also set two cards facedown. Now..." His eyes panned over Samus's facedown cards, and then he shrugged. "Caution to ze wind, Darkfire Soldier #1 - attack with Heated Hook!"

The burning soldier threw his weapon into the air, caught it before it hit the ground, and dove forward, slicing cleanly through Samus's monster. It was revealed as a small, gray-skinned creature that closely resembled the standard depiction of an alien - the only differences were that it had a strange, beak-like mouth and frilled ears on either side of its bulbous head. (300/800)

As it died, the alien spat something on the Darkfire Soldier's skin. This "something" became a small green worm, which burrowed under the soldier's skin before he could react and left a purple mark behind.

"Okay, that was just gross," Vivienne muttered.

Her father, meanwhile, blinked before asking, "What ze hell just happened?"

"The monster you destroyed is known as Alien Grey," Samus replied. "When it's turned face-up, it places an Alien Counter - that little worm - on one of your monsters. Oh, and..." Her arm beeped, and she tapped a button, adding a card to her hand. "When it's destroyed in battle while face-down, I draw a card."

With a sigh and a vent of steam, Lucifer said, "Zat is my turn, zen."

Gerald sipped his drink, muttering, "Another set of cards I don't know anything about... video game characters use very strange decks, don't they?"

"Just be glad he's not dueling Kraid or this place wouldn't have a roof," Chad said.

With another tap to her arm, Samus drew again. "Now," she started, "I play the Magic Card Bait Doll. I'll have you activate your left-hand facedown card!"

Lucifer merely shrugged, gesturing to the card in question. It flipped up, showing the image of a small monster ripping its way out of a larger one, and a ritual circle appeared on his field.

"Ultimate Offering?" Samus said, taken slightly aback. She then shrugged. "Oh, well..."

"Why would he play Ultimate Offering?" Laura asked Vivienne, head tilted.

Vivienne replied, "Fire monsters tend not to be very strong, so it helps to have a lot in play at once. Especially if they have decent effects, and some do..."

Taking it in stride, Samus added, "Bait Doll shuffles itself into the deck after I use it, so I should have better luck next time. Now I'll summon Alien Warrior in Attack Mode."

A green beam of light shot through the ceiling and appeared on the field. Within it appeared an image, hazy at first but soon becoming clear, of a hunched-over creature with a silver carapace, looking a little like a humanoid dinosaur. It unfurled, revealing two massive hands with sharp claws at their ends. (1,800/1,000)

"Oh, great," Chad groaned. "It's a warm-weather species of Sheegoth."

The bounty huntress snapped her head towards him, shouting, "Don't even joke about that! I still have scars from the last time I fought one of those! Do you know how hard something has to hit me to scar me through this suit?" She then turned back towards Lucifer, ordering, "Alien Warrior, disembowel the Darkfire Soldier #1!"

The Darkfire Soldier began to raise his hook to defend himself... and then twitched as something happened inside of him. He dropped the hook and grabbed onto his shoulder, over the purple mark. (1,700/1,150 - 1,400/850) Needless to say, when the Alien Warrior pounced forward and swung one of those spiked clubs it called hands around, pieces of the soldier went flying.

"Hold for one second!" Lucifer yelled. "What weakened my Darkfire Soldier?"

"The Alien Counter," Samus explained. "When a monster with an Alien Counter on it battles an Alien monster, the worm is spurred into activity by pheromones from its larger relative. It then attacks key nerves and muscles, preventing its host from fighting at full strength. In game terms, that means the monster loses 300 Attack and Defense Points for each Alien Counter on it."

Without its host, the alien worm flopped about, helpless. Lucifer brought his foot down in a fit of pique, squashing the worm under his shoe as his Life Points sank to 7,600.

"Hmmm... I don't think I'll need much else for a while, so I'll activate my facedown Soul Reversal," the video game character continued. "This lets me place a Flip Effect Monster from my Graveyard onto the top of my deck, so I'll make sure I get the Alien Grey back next turn." The ghost of the Alien Grey flew from the Graveyard and back into her gun-arm. "That will be it for my turn."

Lucifer drew another card, the flames dancing at his feet. He then smiled, saying, "Mademoiselle Aran, I zink zis duel requires a change of scenery. Zis old diner just isn't a very good place to be, non?"

"What are you suggesting?" the bounty huntress said, suspicion in her tone.

"Quite simply, I'm going to change ze venue. From zis place..." He opened the field slot on his Duel Disk and slid a card into it. "...to ze City of Brass! Or as you probably know it... Norfair..."

The air heated up around the two duelists, and then the spectators could feel it as well. Gerald took a napkin from a nearby napkin holder and dabbed the sweat off of his forehead. Soon, the ceiling vanished above them, replaced with a burning red sky, and then the rest of the diner was swept away. Now Lucifer and Samus stood on the top of a brass sphere; all around them stood a marvelous city, Arabian in design, and the heat was sweltering. Red-skinned beings, the Efreeti themselves, could be seen moving about in the distance.

"Welcome to ze City of Brass, home of ze legendary beings of fire and spirit named ze Efreeti," Lucifer said, stretching out his arms. "Isn't it delightful?"

"All I can say is thank the Chozo for my Varia Suit," Samus replied. "What does this field do?"

The Beloved of Fire grinned "For starters, it reduces ze level of all Fire monsters by one. It also grants zem 200 extra Attack and Defense points. In zose respects, it is like A Legendary Ocean, but for fire. Now I shall summon ze Great Angus in Attack Mode!"

A giant creature roared off in the distance, and then dropped from the sky, shaking the very ground on impact. It had tough red skin, giant tusks, and powerful knuckles, and its body was covered in scars. Both hands dug into the brass sphere the duelists stood on, leaving dents. (1,800/800) The heat caught up to it, but that only made it angrier. (1,800/800 - 2,000/1,000)

Chad whistled at that point. "It's like the burning equivalent of my Berserk Gorilla, but without the drawbacks," he noted.

Laura couldn't help a laugh at that, replying, "Appropriate - if I remember the picture on that card right, it's spitting fire."

"By paying 500 Life Points, I may summon or set again zis turn, due to my Ultimate Offering," Lucifer noted. "So I shall. I pay 500 Life Points and summon ze Robotic Knight in Attack Mode!" As he said it, fire streamed from his hand and fed the ritual circle - his Life Points lowered to 7,100, but the circle glowed.

What appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a robot in a soldier's uniform descended from the sky. The flame jets on its feet cut out, and it settled into place. The robot wielded a saber in one hand, and its other hand was a machine gun. (1,600/1,800) Two strips of metal on its arms retracted, revealing solar panels, and it took in the intense light. (1,600/1,800 - 1,800/2,000)

"Great Angus," Lucifer ordered, "take out her Alien Warrior!"

The roaring, grunting beast shambled forward, swinging one massive fist around. The Alien Warrior countered by swinging its claws at the Great Angus, but they couldn't even penetrate the scar tissue. Green blood flew everywhere as the Great Angus crushed the extraterrestrial, and Samus's Life Points lowered to 7,800.

As the beast lumbered back to Lucifer's field, however, two alien worms dug their way through the tough skin and left behind purple patches. Setting his hand to his forehead, the Beloved of Fire groaned. "Let me guess..."

Before he could, Samus said, "When the Alien Warrior is destroyed, its killer receives two Alien Counters."

"Zat was what I was about to guess. Robotic Knight, attack her directly!"

The Robotic Knight raised its gun, lifted the saber high, and brought it down. The gun laid a stream of fire into Samus's armor, pockmarking it with bullet holes as she grunted. Her Life Points sank to 6,000...

...and then she activated her facedown card, declaring, "I activate Numinous Healer, giving me back 1,000 Life Points!" Instead of the usual nurse, a ball of energy hovered in front of her. She touched it, and the holes in her armor repaired themselves as her Life Points rose to 7,000.

One of Lucifer's eyebrows twitched, and he muttered, "Zat will be my turn, zen."

Samus pressed a few buttons, adding another card to her hand. "I set a monster in Defense Mode," she said, "and a card facedown." Both of the holograms appeared as she said so, and then she said, "I end my turn on that."

"Could it be more obvious what she has out?" Vivienne noted.

Chad's eyebrows narrowed, and he said, "Actually, it's not as obvious as you might think. Remember, she's using a theme none of us have heard of..."

Lucifer drew his next card...

"I activate my trap, A Feint Plan!" Samus declared. "Until my next turn, you can't attack any of my facedown monsters!"

Taking a deep breath, Lucifer exhaled a small amount of steam before saying, "I set a card facedown and end ze turn."

Gerald raised an eyebrow, noting, "She must want to flip the Alien Grey herself. But that prevents her from drawing a card... What good will that do?"

As the bounty huntress brought up her next card, although her face was mostly hidden behind her visor, she seemed quite happy to see it. "I start by flipping my Alien Grey into Attack Mode," she said.

The small grey alien emerged on her field, waving its tentacle-like fingers. (300/800) It coughed twice, and then spat. One of the worm-like Alien Counters flew across the field and let out a cloud of smoke as it hit the Robotic Knight's chestpiece. When the smoke faded, there was a melted hole on the Knight's chest.

Lucifer put his head in his hand. "It seems being a machine does not confer immunity to ze Alien Counter."

"All it means is that the worm tugs on wires and attacks circuitry instead of flesh and muscles," Samus replied. "Now I summon forth a monster called Alien Hunter!"

The card moved from her hand to the field, and once more the green beam of light appeared. From within it, a tall, sleek monster slid into view. It had a much darker skin tone than the previous aliens, and whereas the Warrior could conceivably be called a humanoid dinosaur, the Hunter would be better described as a humanoid lizard. It carried a two-headed staff in its hands, either end crackling with energy. (1,600/800)

Off to the side, Chad questioned, "Well, it looks strong enough, but what does it do?"

In response, Samus explained, "The Alien Hunter specializes in the hunting and execution of creatures 'marked' with Alien Counters. In layman's terms, that means he can attack again whenever he destroys a monster with an Alien Counter on it. Thanks to my Alien Grey, that's both of them."

It took a moment for Lucifer to register this, whereupon he muttered, "Oh, _merde_."

"What does that mean?" Laura asked Gerald. He whispered it into her ear, causing her to grimace even as she said, "Well, he's got a point..."

"Alien Hunter," Samus orderd, "attack the Great Angus with Otherworldly Electrostaff!"

The Hunter's claws clicked at several buttons on the shaft of its weapon, causing more energy to dance around the ends. It then leapt forward and rammed it into the Great Angus's stomach; it tried to resist, but its limbs went stiff as the Alien Counters did their work. (2,000/1,000 - 1,400/600) The energy surged through the giant beast, and it was vaporized in seconds.

"Now turn it on the Robotic Knight!" Samus continued.

Moving up to Lucifer's mechanical warrior, the Alien Hunter jabbed the weapon into its stomach. To its surprise, the energy merely slid around its surface, although it did jerk about from the worm inside. (1,800/2,000 - 1,500/1,700) In frustration, the Hunter rammed the weapon through the worm's hole, whereupon it did its work and the Robotic Knight vaporized.

Lucifer's Life Points were now at 6,800, but they wouldn't remain there for long and he knew it. He raised an arm in front of himself.

Samus paused, raised a hand, and dropped it as she shouted, "Alien Hunter, attack directly now!"

The Alien Hunter dove forward, raised the electrostaff, and then swung it into Lucifer's stomach. Its energies shot through the Beloved of Fire's body, and he cried out as his Life Points plunged to 5,200. The Hunter stepped back, leaving Lucifer staggering.

"Alien Grey, hit him as well," the bounty huntress said as an afterthought.

The Alien Grey's eyes shone, and it fired a telekinetic burst at Lucifer. Compared to the previous attacks, this was a fleabite, so he barely registered it as his Life Points were reduced to 4,900.

"Now," Samus concluded, "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

But as soon as Lucifer drew his next card, Samus hit a button on her arm. "Activate Orbital Bombardment!" Her trap flipped up, revealing an orbiting laser burning down from the sky. "By sending an Alien to my Graveyard, I can destroy one Magic or Trap card on your field. I don't feel a need for Alien Grey, so I'll dispose of it. Say goodbye to the Ultimate Offering!"

The green beam that had previously delivered Samus's monsters appeared again, and the Alien Grey vanished into it. After that, a beam of yellow light descended from the heavens, blowing the ritual circle to pieces and throwing chunks of brass everywhere.

"That didn't make sense," Laura thought aloud. "Most people would think the City of Brass is more dangerous than Ultimate Offering - after all, it makes Lucifer's monsters more powerful and easier to summon..."

Samus heard it, but didn't care, thinking instead, _I have my own reasons for wanting the majority of his monsters to be Level Three._

For a moment, Lucifer was silent, and then he lifted off of the floor. He hung in midair, and then began to recite something from memory: "'Ze Dreaming Perfection, in its infinite and eternal sleep, sent his children a dream. In zis dream, he said unto zem, "I have dreamt ze dreams of ze inferno and ze wildfire, ze volcano and ze lightning bolt. From zis day forward, Dreams and Fire are as one." His words came faster as he continued: "'"As a sign of zis, my children-in-flesh are building a great fire on ze banks of a river in the world of man. From it shall emerge your brother, a being of ze world of man but with a foot in our beautiful Mythos. He, too, is of Dreams, but with a heart of Fire. And ze flames will know him and do his bidding, for he is zeirs and ze are his!" And so was born...'"

Fire engulfed the seams of Lucifer's suit, and Vivienne stumbled back, yelling to the other spectators, "He's going to blow! Get behind the counter!" As one, Chad, Laura, and Vivienne dove behind the counter. Gerald, however, sat in his spot, unconcerned... until Laura and Chad grabbed his shirt and yanked him behind cover.

Throwing his arms back, Lucifer finished the recitation with a loud yell of, "**Ze Beloved of Fire!**" The brass under his feet began to soften and warp as embers swirled in the air around him, his personal space shimmering as his body temperature spiked. His eyes turned the color of molten steel, and he inhaled the embers swirling about him.

And then Lucifer exploded, fire burning out from him. The flames threw tables and chairs throughout the diner, scorching the countertop and shattering the glasses behind the counter. The windows blew out, the tables bent over, and Samus's armor turned black. As the fires roared from his body, the very bricks composing the building cracked, the mortar softening and beginning to run. Even the hologram of the City of Brass wavered, the fires hot even by their standards. In the epicenter of the explosion, the Beloved of Fire was barely visible, a specter in the heart of the inferno.

While the fire raged overhead, Chad asked Vivienne, "So what was he quoting from?"

"I don't know its name, but it's a history of the forces of Dreams," she replied. "He used to read it to me when I was a little girl. I always liked the parts with him in them."

One of the lights exploded from the heat, showering glass on the spectators as they ducked and covered. Over their heads, just barely missing them, the scorching flames danced on currents of hot air. Seeing how calm Chad was under the circumstances, Gerald mused, "And I thought I took things in stride..."

Eventually, Lucifer settled back on the ground, and the fire died down as he did so. He panted for breath, muttering, "My apologies. I just had to remember who I was. Now I shall resume zis duel." He took the card he'd just drawn and slid it into his Duel Disk, announcing, "As ze Beloved of Fire, I have ze backing of ze Sun God himself. I play Apollo's Blessing."

Once they were sure the temperature was back to normal, the spectators stood up again. Laura tried to set a hand on the counter but swiftly pulled it back, wincing. Smoke rose from everything in the diner - everything flammable in the immediate radius of Lucifer's rage was consumed or melted, and Samus's suit was covered in a thick layer of black ash.

Lucifer raised his hand, and fire rose up in front of him. From within it galloped a flaming chariot, driven by a large, perfectly-formed man in a toga. He rode in front of Lucifer, and the duelist took a card from his deck and handed it to him. Smiling, Apollo held out his hand, and Lucifer clasped it. With that, Apollo rode away.

"What does that do?" Samus asked, wiping the soot off of her armor.

"By removing a Fire-type monster in my deck from ze game, I may draw three cards. Zat Spirit of Fire should suffice." He drew his three cards, and then declared, "I summon ze Blue Flame Swordsman to ze field in Attack Mode!"

Everyone who had dueled even once in their lives knew what Joey Wheeler's Flame Swordsman looked like. The Blue Flame Swordsman looked exactly the same, but with blue armor and blue fire surrounding his blade. (1,800/1,600) The sun over the City of Brass beat down, and he smiled. (1,800/1,600 - 2,000/1,800)

"Blue Flame Swordsman," Lucifer ordered, "destroy ze Alien Hunter with Flaming Sword of Combat!"

The fire on the warrior's blade intensified, and he charged forward, slicing the Alien Hunter in half with the blade. Samus muttered something that sounded like an alien curse as her Life Points dropped to 6,600.

"I set one card facedown," Lucifer finished, "and ze turn is yours."

_I had an easier time fighting Mother Brain!_ Samus thought. She pressed a button, her next card appeared, and then she scowled behind her visor. "I set a monster in Defense Mode and place a card facedown," she said. "Now go!"

Drawing again, Lucifer smiled, holding up his latest draw. "Zis will do nicely. I summon Tenkabito Shien in Attack Mode!"

The sound of galloping hooves filled the building, and then an elegant man of Japanese appearance rode up one of the streets on horseback. He had his hair swept back in a topknot, and he wore silk clothes. In one hand, he carried a sharp nodachi. (1,500/1,000) His horse reared up, and he yelled a battlecry as the city inspired him. (1,700/1,200)

At the sight of the monster, Gerald tilted his head. He then retrieved his deck, flipping through it until he found his Shien's Spy card. "I guess that explains who she's spying for."

"No matter what zat trap is, Tenkabito Shien cannot deign to care," Lucifer said. "Zerefore... Tenkabito Shien, attack with Zantesuken!"

"Okay, he does mean 'Zantesuken' and not 'Thantesuken,', right?" Chad asked. Vivienne smacked him across the back of the head, whereupon he said, "It's an honest question!"

Gerald looked at him and replied, "Then don't phrase it like that in earshot of the subject's daughter. And to answer the question, Zantesuken is Japanese for 'sword that cuts through steel', so yes, he probably meant Zantesuken."

Tenkabito Shien's horse reared back, and the warlord charged, bringing his blade around. It sliced up and through a large, blue-skinned fish with odd designs on its scales. The cut point appeared, and its divided halves fell to earth. (1,700/1,000)

"Space Mambo, hmm?" Lucifer asked. "Desperation makes one do odd zings."

The bounty huntress seethed through her helmet, declaring, "Does this seem odd to you? I activate Card of Last Will!" The trap flipped up, and suddenly five card holograms appeared on her gun-arm. "When I take an attack and my hand is empty, this trap gives me five cards!"

"Not zat zey will help you with zis," he replied. "Blue Flame Swordsman, attack directly with Flaming Sword of Combat!"

Blue fire erupted around the armored warrior's blade, and he swung it at Samus, a wave of fire launching out. It struck her armor, which sparked and smoked as the fire left a large scorchmark The onlookers could hear her breath heavily as her Life Points sank to 4,800. "It's like being in the Magmoor Caverns again," she muttered.

Lucifer laughed behind his hand, saying, "Be glad I don't have any Solar Flare Dragons in zis deck or you'd have actual magmoors to worry about. Now zat I've made my statement, I end my turn."

"Magmoor?" Gerald asked Chad.

The tall man replied, "Imagine a twenty-foot-long, five-foot-diameter eel that lives in molten lava without any fear of being burned. Now imagine that it can spew fire with stunning accuracy at a medium range and has the temper of a pit viper on PCP. That is a magmoor."

Samus pressed a few buttons and drew her next card, making her hand six cards. She paused for a moment as her visor flickered, clearing off the soot, and then chuckled. "As I recall, your City of Brass has two effects. The second effect gives all Fire monsters - in other words, all of your monsters - extra attack power..."

"And ze first one reduces zeir levels by one, oui," Lucifer replied. "Why is zat so important?"

One of the cards in her hand turned around as she said, "Because the effect of this monster requires it to gestate inside one of your own monsters, one of Level Three or less. Tenkabito Shien should do..."

A beam of green energy fired from the card and struck the mounted warrior in the chest. He and his horse staggered back, but at first, nothing seemed to happen. And then he began to cough.

"Everyone get down!" Chad yelled. "I saw this happen to John Hurt once!" The audience again dropped behind the counter.

Still coughing, Tenkabito Shien climbed off of his horse, his coughing now throwing up blood. At that point, his shirt began to bulge. In a panic, he tore the front of it open, horrified as his chest expanded...

...and then his body tore in half as a tall, angry creature emerged from the remains, skin slick with the warrior's vital fluids. It had the same silvery carapace as the other aliens, but it was far leaner than its brothers, skin tight on its bones. (1,600/1,800) There was a noticable patch of purple on its stomach.

Lucifer could only look on in disgust, grunting, "Ugh... Now I know how ze crew of ze Nostromo felt having to watch zat..."

"The monster now on your field is named Alien Skull," Samus explained, unmoved by the horrific sight of a few seconds past. "When I Special Summon it to your field by sacrificing a monster of Level Three or less you control, it instantly gets an Alien Counter. I also can't Normal Summon this turn, but I don't need to." She pressed a few more buttons, moving a card onto her field. "I bring back my Alien Warrior with Premature Burial!"

Samus's Life Points lowered to 4,000, and a red circle of light shone on her field. From it climbed the hulking unearthly combatant, snarling in rage. (1,800/1,000)

"Alien Warrior, attack the Alien Skull!" she ordered.

As the Alien Warrior barreled towards its fellow extraterrestrial, the Skull went into a defensive stance. It then let out a gasp and spasmed as the worm inside it went to work. (1,600/1,800 - 1,300/1,500)

All Lucifer did was smile, however. He gestured to the Blue Flame Swordsman and said, "Zis monster has a special ability not shared by his brother. All I need to do is reduce his Attack Points by a number, and I can give zem to another monster I control. So I'll take 600 Attack Points and give zem to ze Alien Skull!"

Raising his blade in front of him, the Blue Flame Swordsman shut his eyes. The blue fire gathered around his body, and he slumped, sinking to one knee. (2,000/1,800 - 1,400/1,600) Once there was enough, the blue fire streamed into the Alien Skull's body, and it fought off the pain of the Alien Counter. (1,300/1,500 - 1,900/1,500)

By the time the Alien Warrior had reached it, the Alien Skull was ready. It dodged the sweep of the Warrior's claw, grabbed the other alien's head, and pulled it off with one good tug. Green blood splattered about, and two more worms burrowed into the Alien Skull's body, but the Warrior's corpse then shattered, bringing Samus's Life Points to 3,900 as it did. With the end of the attack, the worms went dormant, restoring the Alien Skull's power. (1,900/1,5000 - 2,200/1,800)

The video game character stared at the array of holograms on her arm, muttering under her breath, and then said, "I'll set two cards facedown..." Her fingers flashed over the buttons as the card appeared. "...and end my turn on that."

Gerald and company were back above the counter; by this point, the holograms of the City of brass had adjusted to their presence and turned it into a brass fence. "That little firestorm seems to have improved your father's skills," Gerald said to Vivienne.

"Sometimes he just has to vent," she replied. "Our family manor in Marseilles is extensively insured against fire for that reason."

Lucifer's fingers danced on top of his deck before he drew his next card, tucking it into his hand. His eyebrow arched as he looked at it, and he thought, _So the Dreams felt I needed one of these? First time I haven't had to ask for one... _ "I zink I'll go straight into battle zis turn," he began.

Before he could say anything else, Samus announced, "I activate Threatening Roar, preventing you from attacking me." A massive, booming roar issued from somewhere in the City of Brass, and Lucifer's monsters cowered.

"Right..." Lucifer shrugged, saying, "Zat will be all, zen."

Samus pressed a few more buttons, studying her hologrammatic hand, and thought, _I'm ready now._ "I activate my trap, Brainwashing Beam!" she declared. "This lets me take control of any one monster on your field with an Alien Counter on it, and I choose the Alien Skull!"

The trap revealed itself, showing a picture of an Alien Grey performing hypnosis. The alien stepped out of the card, locking eyes with the Alien Skull and waving its hands about. The other nonhuman lifeform just stared. Finally, Samus pointed her gun arm at it and fired a beam of blue light, dragging the resisting alien to her field.

"What was that?" Laura asked.

Chad replied, "The Grapple Beam."

"Normally," Samus continued, "the monster in question would lose an Alien Counter each turn, and return to your field when the counters were gone... but I have other plans." She turned a card in her hand around with a press of a button, adding, "This monster normally needs two sacrifices, but I only need one if it's your monster being given up! I tribute the Alien Skull to summon Cosmic Horror Gangi'el!"

From the sky shot a red beam, which fell upon the Alien Skull. Its skin bubbled, and it began to convulse. Soon its flesh began to swell, its legs beginning to expand at a collossal rate. They became tentacles in short order as it continued to grow in size, its head distending and sprouting extra fangs. More tentacles burst from its flesh, and when the transformation was complete, the monster was a head with tentacles attached to it. (2,700/2,000)

Out of all four spectators, Gerald was the only one in the group who did not dive for the nearby garbage can. However, he did turn pale.

Lucifer merely stared, glancing to his Blue Flame Swordsman. Said warrior was now openly sweating, and given that he was a Fire creature, this was a frightening thought.

"Cosmic Horror Gangi'el," Samus ordered, "crush the Blue Flame Swordsman with Orbital Devour!"

As it rose into the air, the cosmic beast growled down at the Blue Flame Swordsman. It then lashed out with one tentacle, dragging the warrior into its mass. The other tentacles thankfully hid the doomed swordsman, but the sounds that ensued were unmistakably those of a living humanoid being pulled apart and devoured.

Once again, Gerald was alone in not rushing for the garbage can. Judging from his expression, however, he was on the borderline.

The only hint left that Lucifer's monster had ever existed was his sword, which fell to the ground with a clang. Lucifer sighed as his Life Points lowered to 2,600, and then said, "By killing ze Blue Flame Swordsman, you've incurred ze wrath of his brother. When he dies, I may Special Summon ze Flame Swordsman to ze field from my Fusion Deck!"

Clad in the more traditional red armor, the famous monster of Joey Wheeler stepped onto Lucifer's field, hefting the fallen sword. Orange fire surrounded it as he glared at Gangi'el. (1,800/1,600)

"Like I should be afraid?" Samus said. "My turn ends with a facedown card."

Lucifer drew his next card, glanced at it, and said, "I set zis monster in Defense Mode and a card facedown. And now... I was looking for a good opportunity to use zis! I activate my trap, Blazing Chains!"

As the trap card flipped, showing an image of a demonic figure bound by burning chains, fire took shape behind the Flame Swordsman. He swung his sword, and the fire leapt out, wrapping around the Cosmic Horror Gangi'el. The fire solidifed and became solid, burning metal, causing the monstrous alien to roar in pain.

"What did you just do to him?" Samus demanded.

Unable to resist a smirk, Lucifer replied, "I need a monster of Fire to use zis card, but of course zat's any of them. Now your monster is unable to attack or switch modes, and ze chains are too tight for it to be used for tribute. Plus..." He paused, musing, "Perhaps zis card is broken. Your monster loses 700 Attack Points, and during your Standby Phase you lose Life Points equal to one quarter of its original power."

Chad shuddered, looking up from the garbage can as he said, "That card really is broken..."

As the chains heated up, smoke rose from Gangi'el's flanks, and it let out another roar of pain as several tentacles fell, burned from its body. (2,700/2,000 - 2,000/2,000)

Lucifer then shrugged, saying, "Zere is a drawback. My turn has to end after I activate zis card, so it's your move."

Even as Samus added the next card to her hand, the Blazing Chains heated up, and fire erupted around her feet, scorching into her suit. She cried out as her Life Points hit 3,225. Once the fire died down, she glared through her helmet, saying, "I'll activate my facedown card, another Numinous Healer! In addition to the 1,000 Life Point gain, I gain 500 more because there's one in my Graveyard!"

This time, the card manifested as a larger ball of light. She reached out with her actual hand and touched it, draining the energy into herself and raising her Life Points to 4,725.

"Even with the Blazing Chains on it, Gangi'el still has an effect to use - once during each of my turns, I can place an Alien Counter on one of your monsters. So since he's the only viable target, I'll give it to the Flame Swordsman!" she added.

The chains rattled as the cosmic beast inhaled, drawing an egg to the surface. It then spat, the egg hatching in midflight and producing a worm. With a splat, the worm hit the Flame Swordsman's hand and burrowed in, leaving a purple mark on his skin.

"Now," Samus continued, "I'll play Graceful Charity. I trust you know how that works?" The angel descended, and Samus pressed a sequence of buttons. Three holograms added themselves to her hand before two vanished. As the angel vanished, the bounty huntress went on, "I've just discarded a very useful monster, and I'll bring her back with my Monster Reborn. Meet a monster that all of the aliens call their leader - the Alien Mother, in Attack Mode!"

The all-too-familiar symbol of resurrection shined overhead, and something truly repulsive stood on Samus's field. It was a tall silver-coated creature, vaguely human-shaped but with four arms jutting from its (her?) shoulders, each of which ended in pink claws. A spiked frill surrounded the Mother's head. (2,300/1,500)

After a moment to study the situation, the bounty huntress thought, I've got enough power to risk whatever that is. If it's a Mirror Force, I'll actually benefit from losing Gangi'el. "Alien Mother," she ordered, "attack the Flame Swordsman with Infestive Swipe!"

This time, the process by which the Alien Counter worm awoke became clear. The Alien Mother shut her eyes, and from various spots on her body (including several green protrudences), a pink mist began to form. This blew over the Flame Swordsman, and he briefly coughed before shuddering, his limbs jerking about as the awakened worm went to work. (2,000/1,800 - 1,700/1,500)

Once the warrior was thus weakened, the Alien Mother slowly stormed forward, her claws leaving scrapes in the brass beneath their feet. She drew back one claw, about to strike down the weakened warrior...

Lucifer activated one of his facedown cards, announcing, "Zis would have helped any number of '50s sci-fi heroes, non? I activate my trap, Shadow Spell!"

The black chains, which resembled the Blazing Chains without fire, launched from behind the Flame Swordsman, locking into place around the Alien Mother and binding her to the ground. She hissed, but couldn't break free, regardless of her struggles. The chains tightened, and she growled at the pressure. (2,300/1,500 - 1,600/1,500)

Fingers twitching, Samus tapped a few more buttons, muttering, "I'll set this facedown and end my turn."

Studying his hand, Lucifer frowned, thinking, I've got her pinned, but I don't have any way of destroying either monster, and that Alien Counter will kill the Flame Swordsman if I try to attack the Alien Mother. I'll have to put my hopes on my next draw. "I set one monster in Defense Mode, switch ze Flame Swordsman to Defense Mode, and end my turn," he said. The Flame Swordsman knelt, holding his sword in front of him.

As soon as Samus added the next card to her hand, another stream of fire spiraled up the Blazing Chains, launching into her chest and reducing her Life Points to 4,050. She then declared, "I'll use Gangi'el's effect to add another Alien Counter to the Flame Swordsman..."

With an exertion of will, the tentacled cosmic horror spat another one of the alien worms. It latched onto the Flame Swordsman's face and burrowed in, leaving him with a large purple mark across half his features.

"Next," Samus continued, pressing several buttons on her gun-arm, "I'll summon another Alien Hunter to the field in Attack Mode."

The green beam of light shone down, and another of the lizard-like humanoids appeared, spinning its electrostaff. (1,600/800)

"I activate the Magic Card known as Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Shadow Spell, freeing my Alien Mother!"

A massive gust of wind blew through the City of Brass, its cold currents bringing some relief to the spectators (all of whom were passing a bottle of water between themselves). However, the temperature shock weakened the chains around the Alien Mother, and it only took one good tug for her to shatter them to a thousand pieces. She rose to her full height, brandishing her claws in anger. (1,600/1,500 - 2,300/1,500)

"Silly move, that," Vivienne noted as she passed the bottle to Laura. "Gangi'el's stronger, and until those Blazing Chains are destroyed it's just a liability. Why didn't she free it?"

Hearing that, Samus turned to her and said, "I actually benefit more from freeing my Alien Mother. Whenever it destroys a monster that possesses an Alien Counter, that monster comes back into play under my control at the end of the Battle Phase. If I'd freed Gangi'el, it would be wasting a good monster."

Vivienne fell silent.

"Any more questions from the audience?" the bounty huntress asked. A moment of silence later, she shook her head. "No? In that case, Alien Hunter will attack one of your facedown monsters, Lucifer..."

The hunter alien sprang forward, ramming its staff through one of the concealed monsters. A red-haired woman in a long white coat briefly appeared before vaporizing.

There goes Blazing Hiita, Lucifer thought.

"Alien Mother, attack Lucifer's Flame Swordsman!" Samus ordered next.

The cloud of pheremones briefly obscured the field, hiding the monsters from sight as the Flame Swordsman weakened. (2,000/1,800 - 1,400/1,200) This was a good thing, as the sight of the vicious alien matriarch clawing and tearing at his body didn't need to be seen.

When the cloud cleared, Samus said, "I'll end my Battle Phase - and the rest of my turn - here."

As she said it, a truly disgusting sight came to everyone's eyes - what once was the Flame Swordsman rose from Lucifer's field, his flesh and armor rent and shredded. Green strings of matter inched across the wounds, pulling them partially shut, but he was still obviously dead. The warrior moved jerkily across the City of Brass, dragging his sword behind him, and staggered onto Samus's field, staring through dead eyes at his former master.

"This entire duel is an exercise in disgust," Chad groaned.

After a moment's pause, Lucifer drew another card, holding it up as he did so. "I will play my Pot of Avarice, letting me shuffle five monsters from my Graveyard back into my deck and draw two cards. Ze Darkfire Soldier #1, Blazing Hiita, Blue Flame Swordsman, Tenkabito Shien, and Robotic Knight will do." The five cards slid from his Graveyard and into his hand, and he mixed them with his deck, shuffling carefully before drawing two cards.

Gerald yawned, stretched, and then yawned again. Everyone stared, and then Laura predicted, "I think either one of those yawns was natural or Samus is going down _hard_."

"My next play is zis Magic Card," Lucifer continued, "a little something known as Fire's Taint. Until ze end of ze turn, all face-up monsters in play are considered to be Fire monsters."

The ground briefly bubbled, and then a gout of flame spread out across the field, scorching all of Samus's monsters and leaving them tinged with red. The exception, the Flame Swordsman's reanimated corpse, had blocked with his sword in time. Lucifer's facedown monster was ignored as well.

"I switch ze Zing in ze Crater into Attack Mode next," Lucifer said as he did so. A crater appeared on the ground between the duelists, and a shadowy figure crawled partway out of it. (1,000/1,200)

_Odd move,_ thought Samus. _But a pointless one nonetheless._

"Now," Lucifer started, and then he merely smirked. He held up another card from his hand, one with a light pink border. His eyes flicked to Gerald, and his smirked turned into a grin.

Gerald, Chad, and Laura tilted their heads, all three thinking, _Light pink? Must be a Dreams card..._

Finally, the Beloved of Fire declared, "I activate ze Dream's Wish Magic Card known as **Flashfire**!"

A golden fire began to build up at Lucifer's feet as he set the card on his Duel Disk. He drew an arm back, watching as gold sparks flew from his Thing in the Crater and all of Samus's monsters, joining the gathering flames at his feet. Once it built up to his ankles, he spun and threw his arms out, letting loose.

Wave after tremendous wave of golden fire burst from his feet, burning its way across the field. The ground of the City of Brass cracked as this unnatural heat blew across it, tearing into the metal and rending it apart, and several of the buildings were shattered by the force of the magic. The golden fire did no harm to Gerald or his friends - in fact, it made them feel refreshed. But Samus let out a cry as it struck her, and all monsters on the field were reduced to ashes the instant the flames touched them.

In a few moments, the golden flames disappeared, having thoroughly scoured the field. Lucifer drew his arms in, letting out a sigh of pleasure as the last traces of the golden fire flowed into his body. He took another breath before saying, "Flashfire is a most powerful form of ze magic of Dreams. When I play it, all Fire monsters in play are destroyed, whereupon I gain 300 Life Points for each one and you lose ze same amount. Since my Fire's Taint turned all your monsters into Fire for ze turn..."

Samus glanced at her Life Point counter, watching it fall to 2,550, and Lucifer watched his rise to 4,100.

"In addition to zat," Lucifer continued, "I may Special Summon a monster of Fire from ze Graveyard in Attack Mode, alzough I must wait until my next turn before it can attack. Return, Great Angus!"

A ball of fire burst out from the ground as the vicious, scarred beast rose from the grave. It shuddered slightly, having trouble remaining upright. (1,800/800 - 2,000/1,000)

Watching this, Gerald asked, "So what's the catch with Dream's Wishes?"

Rather than say anything at first, Lucifer held up his card. Flashfire was beginning to fade out, and as they watched, it scattered into its individual particles, floating away. "You may only play a Dream's Wish once," he said, sighing as he did so. "After zat, it goes back to ze forces of Dreams. But now..." He turned back to the duel and said, "I made no Normal Summon zis turn, so I summon Darkfire Soldier #2 in Attack Mode!"

A man strode out of the streets of the City of Brass, at first hidden by the usual heat sheen of the city's streets. As he came closer, the man's figure became apparent - he had deep red hair, wore a scorched kimono, and was armed with twin katanas. He crossed his blades, fire dancing around them. (1,700/1,000 - 1,900/1,200)

"Darkfire Soldier #2," Lucifer ordered, "attack ze digital huntress directly with Cauterizing Blade Dance!"

With a dash forward, the firey samurai spun, whirling both blades around his body. Samus cried out as the swords burst into flame, melting pieces of her suit as they made contact. Her Life Points dropped to 650, and then the numbers on her counter began to flash as a warning tone sounded.

"Unless you have a reserve tank somewhere in zat deck, your time is almost out," the Beloved of Fire said. "My turns end zere."

Samus desperately hit the next button on her arm and frowned, not liking what she saw. "I set one card facedown," she said, sweating behind her visor, "and end my turn."

There was a pause, as Lucifer stared into Samus's eyes through her helmet, and then he drew his next card. "I now summon Gaia Soul ze Combustable Collective!" he announced.

A spark flew up from a fire somewhere in the City of Brass. It descended over the duelists, the heat and energy of the city slowly fueling its growth, and it expanded continuously in size as it came down. By the time it landed, the spark was a giant conglomerate of burning matter, one giant eye at its center, and it roiled within as the heat that fueled its creation fled on its matter. (2,000/0 - 2,200/200)

"That's strong for a Level Four," Laura noted. "It's got a drawback, doesn't it?"

With a sigh, Vivienne answered for her father: "At the end of the turn, it gets so unstable that it destroys itself."

"But zis turn is all zat I need it for!" Lucifer shouted. "Gaia Soul, attack her directly with Explosive Reaction!"

The burning mass of matter rose off of the ground and fired itself forward, a jet of flame emerging from its rear side.

All of the onlookers struggled to keep their various crude jokes to themselves at that point.

Before Gaia Soul could reach its target, Samus slammed on her gun-arm, declaring, "I activate Negate Attack, ending your Battle Phase and giving me one more turn!" The burning mass struck an invisible wall, bounced off, and rolled up to its owner.

Shaking his head, Lucifer said, "Zis is_ ze_ last turn, Samus. I've had a trap waiting zis entire duel for ze right moment, and zat moment is now. I activate Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai."

The trap rose, and a younger version of Hiita stepped out for a second. She chanted and then, as Lucifer waved her away, disappeared.

"What does that do?" Samus asked her opponent, frightened beyond belief.

"By sacrificing one Fire monster I control," he replied, "I may deal you its Attack Points in damage to your Life Points. Normally, ze hologram would do it, but I have more of a hands-on approach. I'll sacrifice Gaia Soul, and with zat... back to your lairs, spawn of ze Shadows!"

He held out one hand, and the Gaia Soul settled upon it. With a moment's concentration from Lucifer, it lit up and burst into flame, transforming into a ball of fire the same size as the monster that birthed it. Letting out a loud "HAH!", Lucifer hurled it at Samus. The fireball struck her chest and exploded, plunging her Life Points down to zero.

Smoke rose from the defeated video game character, and she staggered, her armor flashing. It shattered, and for the briefest of moments she was exposed - a tall, blonde woman clad in a blue leotard, with a startled expression on her face. She then turned into a cloud of purple fog, which dissipated seconds later.

As Gerald fell asleep against the counter, Lucifer shut down his Duel Disk and passed his hand over the deck slot. His deck vanished, and he took hold of the rings, pulling them apart. They separated and returned to being rings of fire, which he threw into the air and caught around his wrists. They pulled themselves inward and vanished with separate puffs of smoke.

Wiping his mouth on a napkin, his face still pale and sweaty, Chad muttered, "Good riddance. As much as I like those games, she had the most disgusting deck I've ever seen... and I've dueled insects before."

"Ze Shadows are ze forces of mystery, knowledge, and secrets, Monsieur Montmelier," Lucifer replied. "As well as confusion, loss, and sorrow. Beauty is not in zeir portfolio. I've dueled many of zeir number, and none of zem have ever used any of ze attractive decks."

Laura stood up next, a little shaky. She shook her head, asking, "Why did she come after you?"

Moving back into the main body of the diner, the Beloved of Fire replied, "With ze death of ze Shadow Queen, Shadows and Dreams unbalanced in our favor along with Light and Darkness. It didn't tilt so much, zough, and zus it would only take my destruction or a similar act to retilt it in ze opposite direction. So ze Shadows sent an assassin after me... like it meant anyzing."

"But doesn't that mean the Balance is still tilted?"

"Zis is a minor affair, not like ze current state of Light and Darkness. It will naturally resolve in due time."

With a slight cough, Gerald stirred, pulling himself up on the counter. He stretched an arm behind his back, glancing up to the clock behind the counter. It read 4:46, clicking to 4:47 a second later. Subtracting a few minutes for the time they were in the diner before and after the attack, the lazy young man whistled - Lucifer had won the duel in just under a half-hour.

Outside the diner, the rain began to lighten, and Vivienne, who had bounced out from behind the counter following the duel, looked out the window, smiling. "It'll be clear soon," she reported.

"Ah, good," Lucifer replied, brushing off his suit. "Where shall we go next?"

In response, Gerald spat his bubblegum (long since gone flavorless) into a nearby garbage can. "I'm beginning to think we should just head back to the hotel for now," he said.

"Pardon?" Lucifer asked, leaning forward.

"It looks like Degas and Alexander are insisting on making the next move themselves. If that's so, then it would be a waste of time for us to keep searching." The young man shook his head, hand on his chin. "Granted, this leaves us with the gaping question of what that next move will be, but I think we can expect the answer sooner rather than later."

"And it would be foolish to wear ourselves out until we know what's coming," Chad finished.

Gerald looked to the rest of the group, asking, "Are we in agreement?" They nodded just as the last drops of rain fell, and he turned to the door, yawning.

As Laura and Lucifer headed out, the young woman asked, "I have to wonder... can you eat and drink cold stuff?"

"I do, but I just prefer my food and drink hot," the Beloved of Fire replied. "It does not hurt me to drink a glass of ice water, but I like hot coffee better."

**0000000**

Degas snapped his fingers and the mirrors shut off. He smiled, saying, "And with that I think we can rule out the presence of the Shadows for a while." His expression then turned serious, and he called, "Hanzaki!"

The Lycra-clad man stepped out of a blur in the air, bowing to his masters. "Yes?"

"Have you prepared what we told you to prepare?" Degas asked.

Hanzaki nodded. "I have. The delivery is waiting in the storage room, and all the preparation for the harvest is in place. By the way..." His eyes narrowed slightly. "I received word from Father Young that he ran into one of the 'rogue agents' today, right after Fuu's defeat. It was during one of his sermons, so he couldn't do anything, but you might be interested in knowing it was Demetrius Lark."

Alexander sighed, putting his hand on his head. "Why am I not surprised?" he said. "As long as there's an undefeated champion of Duel Monsters and a one-time Darkness Infected in this city, we're going to have problems."

The man in black patted his companion's shoulder, pointing out, "Now that we have the Darkness Infected secured, it isn't quite the threat it seems to be." He then turned back to the messenger. "Send word to Father Young that if he encounters one of the rogue agents, he is to challenge them to a Dark Duel. The stakes are as usual."

"'Heaven or Hell' it is, then," Hanzaki said, bowing again. "Understood. Anything further?"

Pushing his sunglasses back up, Degas replied, "One further item. After sunset tonight, we will be engaging in an action that could have unforeseen consequences. Be ready to perform the contingency plan if that's the case."

"It's that dangerous?" Hanzaki and Alexander both said, the latter more surprised than the former.

After shooting his partner a glare, Degas confirmed, "It is. I doubt it will be as bad as that, but be ready anyway. You are dismissed for now."

With his obscure gesture, the Lycra-clad man vanished.

"I knew this was a truly bad idea," the man in green groaned, leaning back in his chair. "But until now I thought the highest stake was my damnation."

"Be quiet, Alexander," Degas hissed. "We can't trust Bethany to take down all three of them, after all. Speaking of whom..." He sighed, then, hand running over his head. "The summoning has to wait until nightfall. If you have anything you'd like to say or do with her, get it out of the way now so you don't regret it later."

There was no vocal reply from Alexander, but he nodded and stepped out of his chair, looking haunted.

Once his companion was gone, the man in black shook his head. "This is bad enough without his doubts poisoning it."

**0000000**

On another plane of existence, removed both from the Prime Material and the plane of the forces, a creature of true darkness sat on a throne in a palace of sixty-six ivory towers. In front of the throne, there stood a mirror, similar in design to the ones Degas and Alexander used... as well it should have, as they had given it to him. The creature smiled as he watched it, revealing yellowed fangs.

"About time," he said. "If I had to wait any longer I would have thrown away that contract."

The creature - not human, but something far worse - set his hands in front of him, pressing his fingertips together. There were twelve of them. "I had better prepare," he continued. "It would not do if I were unprepared for such an event..."

**CITY OF BRASS**

Type: Field Magic Card

Image: A magnificent Arabian city, sitting atop a brass sphere and under a burning sky.

Effect: Downgrade all FIRE-type monsters on the field and in your hand by one level. In addition, all FIRE-type monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF points.

**APOLLO'S BLESSING**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: The Sun God Apollo in his fiery chariot.

Effect: Remove one FIRE-type monster in your deck from the game. Draw three cards.

**BLUE FLAME SWORDSMAN**

Type: Effect Monster

Card Statistics: Lv. 4/FIRE/Warrior/1800/1600

Effect: You can decrease the ATK of this Monster to increase the ATK of another face-up Monster on the field by the same amount. This effect can be used during your opponent's turn. If this Monster is destroyed, you may Special Summon one "Flame Swordsman" from your Fusion Deck or Graveyard.

_Note: This card was first used by Joey in the original series episode "Fighting for a Friend, Pt. 4". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**BLAZING CHAINS**

Type: Continuous Trap Card

Image: A demonic being locked in burning shackles.

Effect: You can only activate this card during your first Main Phase, and only when you have at least one FIRE Monster face up on the Field. Choose one opposing Monster. For as long as this card remains active, the chosen Monster has 700 points deducted from its ATK, cannot attack or change position, and cannot be used as a Tribute. Also, the owner of the chosen Monster takes damage equal to one-fourth the original ATK of the chosen Monster during each of his Standby Phases. After activating this card, you must end your turn.

_Note: This card was first used by Etna in Cyber Commander's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Mandate of Heaven". All creative credit goes to him._

**FIRE'S TAINT**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: A group of soldiers standing in front of a smoking volcano, each with reddened skin, coughing.

Effect: Until the end of the current turn, all face-up monsters in play are considered to be FIRE-type monsters.

**FLASHFIRE **

Type: Normal Magic Card/Dream's Wish

Image: A Flame Manipulator unleashing a torrent of yellow flames from his body in a rapidly-spreading ring around himself.

Effect: Destroy all FIRE-type monsters in play. For each monster destroyed this way, you gain 300 Life Points and your opponent loses 300 Life Points. You may then choose a FIRE-type monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it to the field in Attack Mode. The monster summoned by this effect cannot attack this turn. This card will disappear after use.

**Dream's Wish: New Card Type**

Dreams are fickle and fleeting, and so are the powers they give. A Dream's Wish, much like Cards of Night and Heaven's Gifts, are cards created from pure energy and given to the chosen servants of their creators. In the case of Dream's Wishes, they are cards formed from dreamstuff, the insubstanial material that forms all dreams.

As dream's riches are easily spent, Dream's Wishes are easily granted... but with a cost. While a Dream's Wish can be a powerful card, it's also limited in use - very limited. Once it is played and the effect resolves (or is prevented), the Dream's Wish vanishes from the game, never to be seen again. Of course, the forces of Dreams can grant the player another such card, but they almost never give the same card twice.

Dream's Wishes are not for use in other stories. They are exclusive to this one.

_Coming next chapter: As night falls on the Twin Cities, the Pillar of Chaos finally emerges to engage the Light in battle. Chad is her opponent, and it quickly becomes clear this isn't a normal duel - or even a normal Dark Duel, for that matter. Soon, Chad has to discover a way to defeat an opponent he simply can't defeat. How can he hope to do it? And what sort of woman could steal the heart of the Dark Conduit? Keep an eye out for Chapter Twenty-Two, "Moonlight Sorrows"._


	23. Moonlight Sorrows

**_The Pillar of Destruction, Jean-Vic Viper, was a brutal and heartless man, with a deck theme like a battering ram and no motivation outside of tearing Gerald apart. That makes sense._**

**_The Pillar of Terror, Menardi, was a coldly beautiful woman who loved to toy with her victims and took sadistic pleasure in driving Laura to the edge of her fears. Again, that makes sense._**

**_I guess it's only appropriate that nothing about the Pillar of Chaos makes any sense whatsoever. You would think someone whose primary portfolio involves insanity and disorder would be more fun about it. Think about Loki, before the death of Balder; think of the Joker and the Riddler; hell, think of Kefka. Traditionally, those who spread chaos are depicted as enjoying themselves._**

**_This girl - and yes, it's a girl - doesn't seem to like what she's doing at all. In fact... she looks sad. So very sad, indeed. Like this is just more pain on top of whatever she went through that made her become a Pillar._**

**_But she is still a Pillar. This is still a Dark Duel. And the price for defeat is far too high for me to even consider going easy on her..._**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Moonlight Sorrow**

It was ten o'clock at night. Somewhere in St. Paul, hidden away from the world at large, there lay a series of interconnected, interrelated rooms. In one of these rooms, there was nothing but a summoner's circle, drawn on the floor in animal blood and crackling with dark energy. Six jars, each with intricate designs etched on their outsides, sat around this circle, and in each jar a ball of light - the colors ranged from black to light grey - floated.

The jars were soul jars, designed to collect both living and dead souls, and each ball of light was a human soul.

Unlike every other room in Degas and Alexander's lair, this room was locked. It was also the furthest room from the outside world and the most remote room in the lair. Alexander had insisted on all of this.

The door to the room suddenly clicked and faded away, leaving the doorway empty. Degas passed through it, pushing his sunglasses back up as he did so, and took a moment to check the position of the jars. He bent his knees, took one jar, and moved it further off the edge of the circle. This done, he nodded and stood up, cracking his knuckles.

A moment later, Alexander entered, a sour expression on his face. He adjusted his collar and looked to Degas, saying, "For the last time, are you absolutely sure about this?"

"For the last time," Degas replied, "yes, I am. We don't have much in the way of options, Alexander. Since I doubt your little girlfriend will do much for us, even if she can score a victory or two, we need the outside power. Besides, we already have the souls..."

The man in green sighed, stepping onto the summoning circle and lowering himself to his knees. Degas followed him, kneeling himself once he was in the center of the circle. Both placed their hands on the circle, and dark energy flowed into it, causing it to glow.

After a few deep breaths, both of the men chanted, "The dark man, the shadow king, the ebony-skinned master of all things that revel in the night, oh Master Graz'zt, spare us your wrath and grant us your favor... We have fulfilled your desire and gathered together the gift you deserve; Graz'zt, prince among demons, come forth from Azzagrat and answer our request..."

The air turned even darker than usual, the light in the room fading to nothing. There was a moment of utter stillness, and then he stood before them, concealed by the room's darkness. One hand was on his sword, and the threat of unquenchable violence hung on the air.

"Have you truly brought together what I asked you to bring me?" the demon said, his voice eloquent and rich.

Degas nodded. "As you asked of us when we first called you forth, we have gathered together six human souls, each one taken from a man or woman who willingly served us."

The demon chuckled, setting a six-fingered hand to his chin. "Impressive. I expected nothing less from the two of you. This means, I suppose, that you have fulfilled your end of the contract." The contract appeared on the floor in front of them. "Now I must fulfill my end, it seems. Tell me, then... what is it you would have me do?"

Alexander spoke this time, his voice a flat pitch. "We desire that you find Gerald Laxina and his allies and strike them down in a series of Dark Duels."

"Oh?" Graz'zt said. "A very simple request, indeed... but of all people, I expected you least of all to request such a thing. You remind me of my thralls that way..."

"Do not start with us, demon," the man in green replied, his voice shifting from monotone to anger in mid-sentence.

Setting his hand on Alexander's shoulder, Degas hissed, "Hold your tongue." He then said to Graz'zt, "As per our contract, that is our request. You may battle them in any order you desire."

After a moment of silence, Graz'zt replied, "I have but one additional request. Will you require Gerald and his friends after I defeat them?"

Degas and Alexander glanced to each other, and then Alexander turned back to the demon and said, "Why do you ask?"

"Because," Graz'zt said, "I want to take them as my slaves into perpetuity after I defeat them. Will that be acceptable?"

The man in green recoiled, nearly stepping backwards out of the circle. His companion grabbed the front of his shirt before he could so, glaring at him. "That will be acceptable," Degas told the demon.

As the demon began to laugh, the light in the room began to recover. "In that case, I shall begin now..." With those words, a wave of darkness covered the room, and the six soul jars vanished along with Graz'zt.

There was a pause of a few moment's duration, whereupon Alexander sank onto his hands and knees and groaned, shaking his head.

"May I ask you a question, Alexander?" Degas asked as he rose, staring at his companion without any sort of compassion or pity. "Once our plan came to pass, and we no longer needed the Darkness Infected, what were you planning to do with Gerald and his friends?"

"Something other than hand them into extradimensional slavery," Alexander replied, not looking up. "Why did we even make this deal?"

The man in black sighed, reaching for his sunglasses. He shut his eyes before removing them, and took a cloth out of his pocket, cleaning the lenses. "We had two choices. One was to call on the power of the Demon Lord Graz'zt and unleash an abyssal force of darkness onto the world." He slid the sunglasses back onto his nose, opened his eyes, and continued, "The other was to awaken the fourth pillar. Be honest, which would you rather see?"

Another paused ensued, and then Alexander shuddered hard, his sweat dripping onto the ritual circle (which had ceased glowing now that the two no longer fed it energy). "You have an excellent point," he said.

"I knew you could see it my way." With a sigh, Degas said, "Now get Bethany ready. Judging from what we saw on the mirror earlier, the group has split itself up, and we can take advantage of it to... fork them."

As he rose, Alexander's legs wobbled under him, and he stumbled up to the wall, leaning against it. "Who do you think Graz'zt will target first?" he asked.

The man in black tilted his head back, exhaling. "He's the patron demon of lust and debauchery, Alexander. Who do you _think_ he's going to start with?"

**0000000**

At 5 P.M., Gerald Laxina and company had left the diner in St. Paul with no clue what to do other than return to the hotel and wait for the next move on the part of the Darkness.

By 6 P.M., they'd realized just how boring that process would be. Gerald, having a considerably higher boredom threshold than the others, didn't see a problem with this, but Vivienne and Lucifer both needed some other way of occupying their time.

It did not come as a surprise when Vivienne suggested a solution. "There's this club just outside the city limits," she said. "It's called Live Arena, and it's got one of the better stables of DJs in the area. It was out of Darkness Infection range, so I think it should still be open."

"I do not zink I want to know how you came to patronize zat place," Lucifer muttered. He then smiled and said, "You do usually have good taste in locales, zough. Anyone else going?"

Chad said, "I will," which also came as no surprise.

"What about you two?" Vivienne asked, looking to Gerald and Laura.

Gerald merely yawned and shook his head, and Laura snorted, saying, "I don't dance and I'm not old enough to get wasted, so why should I bother?"

"Just thought I'd ask," Lucifer's daughter said with a shrug.

**0000000**

At 10:05, moments after releasing Graz'zt into the world, Alexander laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. One hand was tucked behnd his back, and he sighed, tapping the bed with the fingers of his other hand. At any moment, he expected a gate to Hell to burst upon beneath him, and to go plummeting into the depths of the Abyss, never to see the light of day again.

"I'm being needlessly melodramatic again," he muttered to himself, adjusting his sleeves. He then heard the door open, and sat up, resting his arms on his knees.

Bethany poked her head in, and then slid around the doorway, idly placing a finger to her lips. "You wanted to see me?" she asked him.

Nodding, the Dark Conduit said, "Feel free to sit down."

There was a chair near the bed, and so Bethany settled into it, leaning forward a bit. After a moment's awkward silence, she suddenly asked, "It's my turn, isn't it?"

Alexander sighed. "Yes, it is. Gerald's group split up, and this is a chance for us to catch them off-guard. While our... other plan deals with one of them, you're to attack Chad."

"Chad..." The girl shut her eyes, sucking on one fingertip, and then said, "Which one is that? I can't quite remember."

"The tall blonde one with delusions of artistry." He shrugged. "I think you should be able to deal with him without too much trouble."

Despite her best efforts, doubt still creeped into Bethany's voice as she nodded and said, "All right..."

With a sigh, Alexander beckoned to her, saying, "Come over here, Bethany..." He watched her move close to him, and then swept the rather surprised girl into his lap as he said, "Do you regret having met me?"

The surprise soon faded, and Bethany curled into Alexander's chest, murmuring, "No... why should I be? You're one of the only things I have left. I'd never regret having met you. I have no reason to."

The man in green sighed again. "That may soon change... after all, what Degas and I are doing here can't really be described as 'sweetness and light'. Especially not the latter."

"That will never matter," Bethany said into his chest. "As long as I am yours, I could never care." She lifted her head, whispering, "Now... kiss me..."

_Forgive me,_ Alexander thought before he leaned in, kissing her on the lips. There was a crackle of black energy around him as he did so.

As the kiss broke, Bethany stared at him, about to say something... and then a lock of hair fell into her eyes, and her expression turned grim.

"Are you ready now?" Alexander asked her.

The Pillar of Chaos nodded, replying, "Where should I go?"

"Hanzaki has all the details. Your clothes are in the closet in your room - you'd best change before you leave."

Sliding out of his arms, Bethany bowed to Alexander before walking out of the room. As she left, Degas stepped in and asked, "I presume you did as I said?"

"The Pillar's full effects have taken hold..." He glared at his partner. "And thank you for making me feel like a bastard."

The man in black shook his head. "Just remember that all this was _your_ idea."

**0000000**

The dance floor at Live Arena was beginning to heat up by 10 P.M., as the night truly began and the crowd started to pour in. Normally, Lucifer would be in the center of it, feeding off the excitement, but at the moment he stood off to the side and brooded. He wasn't good at it, but he brooded anyway.

Chad and Vivienne were at the center of the dance floor in her father's place, and they were dancing in a way that, in Lucifer's "childhood" (if he could be said to have had one), would have gotten both of them arrested for public lewdness. There was a harmony to them that, to be honest, should not have existed, given they'd just met that day. Somehow they'd kept up that pace for about four hours and counting.

After glancing to them, Lucifer looked away, sighing. He knew that if he watched them any longer, he would see himself and Fabrizia, or Alisande, or any of the other five. This was one of the nights where having 550 years worth of memories was not a positive.

The song changed, and Chad and Vivienne emerged from the crowd, both sweaty and breathing hard. Vivienne laughed, resting her head on the tall man's bicep and exclaiming, "I love this! I wish the entire world had a beat and it was on CD!"

"It does," Lucifer replied, "but I am afraid it is only available on 8-track. Monsieur Montmelier, I believe it is time we were going."

Both Chad and his date tilted their heads at that, looking disappointed. "So soon?" he asked.

"Zere are reasons, my friend. Somezing doesn't feel right, but I can't place what. Besides, Vivienne looks tired." Lucifer slid a hand behind his back and made three brief, spastic gestures.

The girl glared at her father, complaining, "I am not..." She then paused, yawned, and shut her eyes, all but dozing off then and there. A moment later, she blinked and admitted, "Maybe a little."

After a moment, Chad nodded, saying, "I guess it's not a bad idea. After all, given what Laura's like, it's probably a bad idea to leave her alone with Gerald for too long." Lucifer snickered at this, and Chad blinked, now asking, "What?"

"Oh, nozing," the Beloved of Fire replied as the three headed for the parking lot.

**0000000**

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are connected by several bridges, the most famous of which is the High Bridge. Rebuilt in 1998, it stands 160 feet over the Mississippi River, thus the name.

On the Minneapolis side of the bridge, the air warped, and Hanzaki emerged, a sullen Bethany in tow. The Lycra-clad man studied the terrain, blinking as the air began to turn unusual colors around them. "You... do know how to control yourself, right?" he asked.

At the Pillar of Chaos's feet, the road twisted and built itself up into little bunkers, like waves in the blacktop. "To some extent," she replied, eyes hidden behind her bangs. "Enough that you're still yourself."

"Got it," Hanzaki replied. "Either way, Chad should be coming this way any minute now. Catch him before he crosses or you're in trouble."

Bethany sighed, muttering, "I already know that. Now go away."

The messenger narrowed his eyes, even as he raised one hand. "Does being the Pillar of Chaos give you an attitude problem? I was planning on leaving in a second or two. I have other duties tonight, anyway." He then looked up as the clouds parted, commenting, "The moon's unusually bright tonight. Your doing?"

"Maybe," the Pillar of Chaos replied. A fly buzzed past her and turned into a dragonfly, ascending past Hanzaki's head. "What's it matter to you?"

"Just asking. Why the attitude? Is it because you're a Pillar or because you're Alexander's girl?"

Whipping her bangs to one side, Bethany shot a glare at Hazanki. The Lycra-clad man vanished, replaced by a walleye, which flopped and squirmed around on the road beside her. She waited a few seconds, and then looked at him again, whereupon he turned back to his normal self. "Truth or not, don't ever call me 'Alexander's girl'."

"Wow... I feel the pressing need to submerge myself in Lake Minnetonka," Hanzaki said, one hand on his head. "If you excuse me..." The air blurred, and he vanished.

Now that she was alone, Bethany took a deep breath and stepped onto the bridge, slowly making her way across. Grass sprouted from her footsteps, and the supports bent slightly towards her.

**0000000**

Following Lucifer's instructions, Chad pulled up in front of a small house on the edge of St. Paul and stopped the car, looking it over. "This is the place?" he asked.

"Indeed," Lucifer replied as he undid his seatbelt. He then reached over, shaking the sleeping Vivienne. "Wake up, Vivienne..."

After blinking a few times, the girl sat up and muttered, "We're here already? Huh... time flies when you're unconscious..." She then leaned forward, sliding her arms around Chad and pinning him to his seat as she hugged him. "I had a great time tonight. Thank you."

Even as he blushed, Chad managed to say, "No problem... I had fun too. Thanks."

Letting him go, Vivienne slid out of the car and made her way towards the house in question. Chad and Lucifer got out as well, and Chad glanced to the house again, asking, "How'd you get this place?"

The Beloved of Fire chuckled a moment before replying, "To tell ze truth... Ze real owners are on vacation. I merely broke in. Ze Dreams does not provide its servants with... what is ze word... scruples against doing such zings if zey aid us."

"Ah... Well, I don't own the place and I'm not in law enforcement, so I'll keep my mouth shut."

"I zank you." Lucifer's expression turned serious, and he turned to Chad, saying, "Come with me."

Confused but willing to take a chance, Chad followed Lucifer as they moved away from the house.

Raising his right hand, Lucifer began to slide one of the rings off. "Ze Darkness is beginning to grow again," he began. "I can't place how, but somewhere in zis city, zere is a force of utter Darkness coming to ze fore. Ze Ring of Alarms is searing into me."

"The Pillar of Chaos?" Chad asked, eyes wide.

"Quite possible," the older man replied, "but I can't be sure. Whether or not it is... I am almost certain you will need zis." He removed the ring on his ring finger and set it in Chad's palm.

Looking at it, the tall young man was taken aback. "The Ring of Purity?"

"I believe you know how to use it. You have, after all, seen it used twice." Sighing, Lucifer turned back to his house. "Be careful. From what I can tell, ze Darkness is on ze rise in two separate parts of ze Twin Cities, and I can't tell which is worse." Before Chad could ask any more questions, the Beloved of Fire walked away.

His confusion notwithstanding, Chad slid the Ring of Purity onto his finger and got back into his car, heading into town.

**0000000**

"Halibut," Degas said as he and Alexander entered the mirror room. It was his move in the game of "Take the Last" they were playing, a game which required each player to take the last syllable of the previous word and use it at the start of a new one. The loser was the first one to run out of ideas or repeat a previous word. For some reason, this game ran heavily to food.

"Butter," Alexander replied, his mind wandering elsewhere between turns.

Taking his seat, the Hand of Darkness said, "Terrapin."

Silently, the Dark Conduit took his own seat, leaning against it. After a second, he said, "Pinwheel?"

"Already used," Degas replied. "I win."

"It's not like I was really playing," the man in green said. "I've got other concerns, in case you've forgotten."

Rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses as he snapped his fingers, the man in black said, "Oh, I haven't forgotten. You won't _let_ me forget. Every ten seconds, it's, 'Oh, how could I send the woman I love out like this? Why didn't you stop me?' If I had more reliable sources of dark energy I'd have knocked you into Lake Superior before dinner."

Even as he seethed, Alexander turned his eyes to the mirror array, nervousness written on his face.

**0000000**

Chad was just coming up on the High Bridge when the feeling struck him. He broke into a sweat, pulled the Corolla to a halt, and took a few deep breaths, feeling a panic rising in his stomach and threatening to emerge from his throat in a scream.

_I know this sensation,_ he thought as he stepped out of the car and stretched. _I felt it at the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Guthrie. There's a Pillar on that bridge, and their aura prevents me from going any further. Lucifer was right..._

Raising his hand, Chad shut his eyes and said, "Ring of Purity, protect us from this dark and evil presence."

Nothing happened for a long moment, and then Chad groaned, thinking, _Oh, don't tell me..._

"Ring of Purity... protect us from _zis_ dark and evil presence," he muttered in his best impersonation of the Beloved of Fire.

The pink bubble of light surrounded him, and the feeling of utter fear dissipated... but Chad still felt like such a tool. Sighing, he retrieved his Duel Disk from the back seat and strapped it to his arm before walking out onto the bridge, hands tucked into his pockets.

After the first few steps, he began to wonder if he had stepped through a wormhole somewhere. The sky directly overhead was a patchwork of a thousand different colors, shifting and warping as he moved under it. He looked over the edge of the bridge and saw that the water was pure black, surging along its path like pure tar. The surface under his feet was relatively unaffected...

...but then he took another step, and it was like walking in one of those "bouncy buildings" so popular at kid's parties. He stopped, caught his breath, and carefully hop-stepped along.

After a few moments of this, he eventually reached the bridge's center, and then he saw it. A young woman was looking out over the bridge's side, looking towards the moon (which was far larger and brighter than usual in this place). Her hair was long and black, hiding her eyes, and she was... unusually attired. She wore a black, long-sleeved shirt with a fairly low neckline, and a knee-length skirt with a slit up one side hung on her hips, a black belt at an angle around her waist. Long boots and fingerless gloves, both black, capped the ensemble.

Hearing Chad's approach, she gestured to the bridge's deck, and it solidified, losing the bouncey feel. She then walked to the center of the road and asked, "What are you?"

"I'm really not sure. Maybe I'm a lion," he replied. "You would be the Pillar of Chaos?"

"Call me Bethany," she said, crossing her arms. "I know it doesn't seem like much of a name, but I'm not Jean-Vic or Menardi - I don't feel the need for aliases. An alias means you're scared of what you really are."

Chad blinked and said, "I guess that makes sense. So... why are you on the High Bridge? The last two pillars took over places that they thought would help whatever cause Degas and Alexander are after."

Bethany shrugged, replying, "They didn't feel the need for that this time, I guess. I was sent here with the express purpose of catching you before you got back to your hotel. They said something about having a way to catch the other two while you were split up..."

A powerful wave of darkness washed over the city at that point, chilling Chad to the bone and then going past the bones to chill the marrow itself. He glared at Bethany and asked, "What was that?"

"I think it was the other method... but they didn't give me any details. I was told to duel you, and that's all I needed to know." Bethany gestured, and the black circle of a Dark Duel drew itself around the two of them before Chad could protest.

_I can't say this comes as a surprise,_ Chad thought as he activated his Duel Disk. The arm locked into place, and he paused before drawing his opening hand. "Where's your deck?" he said, confused.

Holding her arm before her face, Bethany suddenly sobbed. To Chad's astonishment, she burst into tears, soaking the sleeve of her shirt as she cried for no apparent reason. The sky turned a dark violet as the Pillar of Chaos cried... and then a rainbow-colored Duel Disk appeared on her arm, deck already loaded into it. It was a bizzare, rippled shape, as though someone had warped it. This was likely not far from the truth.

Once the Duel Disk was in place, Bethany wiped her eyes and said, "There... happy now?" She drew her opening hand and said, "Let's go."

"Okay..." Chad muttered, thinking, Great. She's turning into a female version of Neverwhere.

Both Life Point counters moved up to 8,000, and the duel began.

"I'll start," Bethany began before Chad could make any moves. She took a card from her hand and said, "I summon the Maiden in Love in Attack Mode."

The air turned a light pink, which didn't surprise the artist very much (as it was already every other color in the spectrum). A little girl with long brown hair, wearing a yellow dress, rose up from the ground, hands clasped in front of her. She opened her eyes and giggled. (400/800)

"I set two cards facedown and the turn is yours," Bethany concluded. The two cards appeared before her, and she looked at him.

Chad drew, thinking, _That is a card I never thought she would play..._ "I summon the Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode!" he declared.

The blind, snarling dog walked onto the bridge, letting out a deep growl from the back of its throat. Apparently, something didn't smell right, judging from how its nose wrinkled. (1,900/1,400)

The Maiden in Love then did something Chad never saw coming - she spoke. "Doggy!" she cried. Bethany shook her head.

_Okay... Duel Monsters version of Vivienne. I'd best ignore that trait or I won't be able to duel right,_ Chad thought, sweat rolling down his forehead. "Mad Dog of Darkness, attack the Maiden in Love!" he ordered, looking away.

As the dog barked and began to charge forward, Bethany hit a button on her Duel Disk, announcing, "I activate Reinforcements, giving the Maiden in Love 700 extra Attack Points. It's not quite enough, but she can't be destroyed in battle anyway..."

A group of armored soldiers stood behind the Maiden in Love, who smiled as they readied themselves for the attack. (400/800 - 1,100/800) The Mad Dog ignored this and sprang onto the Maiden, scattering the soldiers as it bit her arm. She cried out in pain, and Bethany's Life Points lowered to 7,200.

And then... the air turned pink again, and the Maiden in Love pulled her arm from the Mad Dog of Darkness's mouth. "Bad dog!" she said, glaring at him. "I thought you were cute... but cute dogs don't attack people! Bad, bad dog!"

To Chad's shock, the Mad Dog of Darkness lowered its head and whimpered, edging away.

Giggling, the Maiden in Love knelt and hugged the snarling beast, stroking its head. "It's okay..." she told it. "You're not really bad... you just weren't trained well. I bet you're just a big softie under all that anger, aren't you?" She then kissed it between the ears before letting it go.

As Chad watched, open-mouthed, the Mad Dog of Darkness trotted back onto his field, a bright pink heart on its chest. "What... the hell... just happened?" he asked Bethany.

"The Maiden in Love, like I said, can't be destroyed in battle," Bethany replied. "She also knows how to woo over those who attack her - any monster that attacks her gains a Maiden Counter. You'll see what that does in a few minutes. Anything else?"

_Why would someone like you play her?_ Chad thought but didn't say aloud. "I set a card facedown and end my turn," he said.

Bethany drew, and then looked at the card, thinking, Wow. Good timing. "I play Cupid's Kiss, an Equip Magic Card, on my Maiden in Love," she announced.

The winged child most people thought of as Cupid descended and kissed the Maiden in Love on her cheek, causing her to blush. A glowing lip-print remained on her cheek.

"Now, Maiden in Love, attack the Mad Dog of Darkness," the Pillar of Chaos ordered.

Chad's finger hovered over the button for his facedown card, but then he shook his head, thinking, _If she WANTS to take 1,500 points of damage, who am I to stop her?_

At that point, the air turned pink again, and he thought, _Okay... dumb move on my part..._

As a breeze blew across the High Bridge, the Maiden in Love began to laugh, running towards the Mad Dog of Darkness with a wide, almost cherubic smile on her face. Startled, the dog snarled and swiped at her, knocking her down. She sat up and stared at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "How could you?" she said in despair as Bethany's Life Points dropped to 5,700. "I thought you were a good dog... but no! You're just a mean mutt!"

Whimpering, the Mad Dog of Darkness trotted up to the Maiden in Love and sniffed at her... and then it recoiled, head down, looking ashamed of itself. Chad's jaw dropped.

"Awww..." the Maiden said, hugging the dog to her again. "It's all right. I bet if I took care of you, we could make you a good dog again. Wanna see?"

With an excited bark, the Mad Dog licked her cheek, and the Maiden smiled, kissing its nose. And then there was a beep on Chad's Duel Disk, and he looked down... only to find the Mad Dog of Darkness was gone. "What the... how the... Okay, what just happened?" he asked.

Picking up a card on her Duel Disk, Bethany held it up - it was the Mad Dog of Darkness. "Cupid's Kiss," she explained, "lets me take control of any monster with a Maiden Counter by attacking it with the equipped Maiden in Love and taking battle damage. Oh, speaking of which..."

She hit her facedown card, and the familiar angel of Numinous Healer descended, stroking her cheek. Bethany's Life Points went back up to 6,700.

"And since it's still my Battle Phase, Mad Dog of Darkness, sic," Bethany commanded.

With a howl, the vicious predator sprang across, jaws open and fangs dripping saliva...

Crap! Chad thought. "Activate Negate Attack!" he shouted.

The invisible wall sprang up, and the dog bounced back. It stalked along the wall, sniffing at the ground, before stepping back onto Bethany's field.

With a dismissive shrug, the Pillar of Chaos declared, "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

As he drew, Chad shivered slightly, thinking, _If this were any other duel, that trap would be something to prevent or subvert my attacks. But her strategy wants me to attack, as long as I'm attacking the Maiden in Love. So her facedown card is likely something that will force me to attack the Maiden if I attack at all_. He glanced to his cards and thought, _Sure, I don't have my Soul Tiger_ now... "I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode..."

"I activate my Trap Card," Bethany countered, "Shadow of Eyes. Turn that monster to Attack Mode, if you will..."

Chad groaned even as his Des Kangaroo pushed himself onto his feet, surrounded by a pink fog. He idly made a few jabs at the air, groaning. (1,500/1,700)

"Well, as annoying as that is," the artist said, "nothing about Shadow of Eyes can force me to attack, so I'll just end my turn now."

Drawing a card, Bethany sighed as she looked at the Maiden in Love, which was currently scratching under the Mad Dog of Darkness's chin. She then took the card she'd just drawn and played it, saying, "I play a Magic Card known as Blown Kiss, which I can only play when I have a Maiden in Love on my field. This allows me to place a Maiden Counter on any face-up monster you control..."

The air turned pink once again, and Chad shook his head. On the field, the Maiden in Love put her fingers to her lips, held her hand out, and blew on her fingers. A kiss floated off of them, hovered across the field, and planted itself on the Des Kangaroo's cheek. He touched it with one boxing glove and grinned sheepishly, even as a large pink heart appeared on his chest.

"And now," she continued, "Maiden in Love, attack the Des Kangaroo!"

This time, the air hadn't even bothered to stop being pink. Rocking on her toes, the Maiden ran across the field, calling out, "Mr. Des Kangaroo, where are you? I wanna give you a hug..."

As she came near, the marsupial swung on instinct, his punch passing over the top of the girl's head. She fell on her behind, yelling, "Eeeeek! You big meanie! Why did you do that?" Behind her, Bethany bit her lip as her Life Points sank down to 5,600.

"Sorry, miss," the Des Kangaroo replied, scratching his head with one glove. "Guess it's just the fighter's instinct in me. Are you hurt?"

"No... but that was still mean of you..." The little Fairy-type stood up, brushing off her dress. "You shouldn't throw punches at people just because they surprise you."

Hanging his head, the Des Kangaroo groaned, kneeling in front of the Maiden in Love. "I'm so sorry... Is there any way I can make it up to you, miss?"

"I can think of one..." She took hold of his glove and tugged the unresisting kangaroo onto Bethany's field.

Chad didn't even have to look at his Duel Disk to know the card was gone. _That manipulative little..._ he thought, cutting it off before he shamed himself.

"Now, Mad Dog of Darkness," Bethany ordered, "savage your master again." She gestured, as did the Maiden in Love, and the dog howled as it charged towards Chad's field.

Before it ever got there, Chad activated his facedown card, saying, "This would be a waste on the Maiden in Love, but it helps me now - activate Ring of Destruction!"

The black waters under the bridge surged up in two liquid tentacles as the card flipped up, causing the artist and the Pillar of Chaos to stumble back a step. They turned into two large, C-shaped pincers, and grabbed the Mad Dog of Darkness by the throat. The joined pincer "circles" turned into a small black ring, lined with grenades. For a second, the dog whimpered.

And then it exploded, the shock wave knocking down Bethany's other monsters and sending both player's Life Points down the pipes - Chad's fell to 6,100 and the Pillar of Chaos's struck 3,700.

As the smoke cleared, Chad rubbed his eyes, muttering, "What was that all about?"

"It's the chaos inherent in me," Bethany replied, straightening her hair. "Sometimes the cards just do... weird things. Oh, by the way... _**Image, come forth."**_

Jean-Vic and Menardi had both had black clouds emerge from their bodies to form their Images. Bethany, on the other hand, bent low and had a light purple cloud emerge from her back. Tears dripped onto some of the smoke as it dipped low, and the mass formed into a shape in the air behind her.

Once the cloud was done, it appeared as a young girl in a tattered blue dress, long red hair hanging over one shoulder and a look in her eyes like nothing in the world could be crueler than what she had experienced just living. She stood behind the Pillar of Chaos, unshed tears always brimming on her eyes.

Blinking, Chad tilted his head and said, "Is that... the Unhappy Girl? Wow. You're not what I would call enthusiastic, but I really doubt that applies."

"I'm just good at keeping it penned up," Bethany replied. "She embodies all the sadness I've ever felt, and there was plenty of it." Behind her, the Unhappy Girl gently sobbed, and the Maiden in Love looked at her in worry. "But I still have a monster to attack with, and you're out of traps. Des Kangaroo, attack with Dreamtime Combination."

The boxing kangaroo smiled down at the Maiden in Love, telling her, "Here we go... let me show you what I can do, miss!" He then sprang forward and drove a fist into Chad's stomach, throwing a right hook across the artist's face for the "two" in the one-two punch. Chad hit the bridge, bouncing slightly as it turned rubbery again, and his Life Points hit 4,600.

As Chad laid on the ground, catching his breath, the air seemed to shatter overhead, and he grabbed his head as a massive headache rushed through him...

**0000000**

A little girl in a light green dress sat on the floor of her bedroom, idly playing with a doll. She was no older than five, with her black hair in two pigtails, and there was a wide smile on her face.

Out in the hall, however, a loud male voice yelled, "That's the third time this week! Damn it, what do you do with my money, light it on fire?"

"What money?" a female voice yelled back. "You don't even give me enough to buy Bethany some decent clothes! All her dresses used to belong to Cindy's daughter! Don't you care what your little girl wears?"

The male voice let out a barking laugh. "Are you kidding me? You know, she doesn't look anything like me..."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I want to know who the father is! John? Steve? That bastard from the phone company?"

Hearing the voices, the little girl looked up from her doll, asking herself, "What are Mommy and Daddy up to?" She stood up and moved towards her door, doll under her arm.

"Charles, no!" the female voice screamed.

A bullet shot through the door and grazed the girl's shoulder, hitting the back wall. She screamed and dropped her doll, falling over.

Seconds later, three more bullets burst through the door, barely missing her as she hit the ground. The sound of a fight and one last gunshot filled the air, and then silence.

Even though she was still bleeding, the girl opened her door. On the floor in front of it, her father laid facedown, the top of his head missing. Behind him stood a short, thin woman with stringy black hair, holding a gun.

"M-Mommy?" the girl asked.

The older woman knelt, hugging her daughter, and said, "Call the ambulance, Bethany..."

**0000000**

His headache faded, and Chad stood up, wobbling on his feet slightly. He looked to Bethany, about to ask a question...

...but then the Pillar of Chaos pulled the left shoulder of her shirt down. There was a thin, pale scar on it. "In case you were wondering, my actual father was Steve," she told him.

"So... how did I see your past?" the artist asked.

"It's the powers of chaos at work. Every time I attack you directly, a little bit of myself enters through the wound. I get it back right afterward, but it's still annoying that I can't control this stuff." She took a card from her hand and tucked it into her Duel Disk, saying, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

The Unhappy Girl is starting to make sense... but I'm not the one who started this duel, so I can't afford pity, Chad thought as he drew. He smiled and said, "I hate to be a heartbreaker, but I'm going to summon Chiron the Mage in Attack Mode!"

A large stone statue came into view, resembling a large centaur in armor, bearing a staff with a shining globe on its head; judging from the patina, it was carved in the days of ancient Greece. The statue cracked, the stone falling off in small flakes, and then shattered, revealing the centaur mage himself underneath its surface. (1,800/1,000)

After a moment, Chad asked Bethany, "Your powers at work again?"

"Yeah... Like I said, it's annoying, but I have no control over it," the Pillar of Chaos replied.

Taking a card from his hand, the artist shrugged and said, "Your Maiden won't have an influence over my monsters any more - by sending a Magic Card, such as this De-Fusion, to my Graveyard from my hand, I can destroy a Magic or Trap card on your field! Chiron, do away with Cupid's Kiss!"

Crossing his arms, Chiron glared at the Maiden in Love and said, "Little seducer that you are, your powers have no effect on me. The Sirens themselves couldn't tempt me!"

Looking insulted, the Maiden in Love glanced to her feet, tapping her index fingertips together. "Ummmm... what's a seducer?" she asked.

"Never mind," the centaur said. The image of De-Fusion appeared on the globe of his staff, which shone brightly, and he raised his staff. He drove the tip into the ground, and a resounding shockwave knocked the Maiden in Love down. She pulled herself back to her feet, crying slightly as the print of Cupid's Kiss faded away.

"Now, Chiron, teach Des Kangaroo the price of a bad taste in girlfriends - attack!" Chad ordered.

Raising his staff, Chiron concentrated, drawing energy into the orb on its top. He pulled the staff back and swung it, hurling a ball of energy at the kangaroo. The marsupial crossed his arms in front of himself to ward off the attack, but it was to no avail as he disintregrated from the force of impact.

The Unhappy Girl sobbed again, and Bethany's Life Points dropped to 3,400. Meanwhile, the Maiden in Love gasped, looking to where the Des Kangaroo stood before yelling, "How dare you! He was just keeping me company!"

"He was a deserter," Chiron the Mage replied. "We have little sympathy for deserters in this deck."

Saluting Chiron, Chad took a card from his hand and slid it into his Duel Disk, announcing, "I'll set this facedown and turn the duel over to you."

"In response to your End Phase," Bethany replied, "I activate my Trap Card, Blind Destruction."

For a brief period, the sky opened up... literally. It irised back like someone opening a pouch, revealing a large blue starship in the void. A series of six green lights glowed on its underside.

"During my Standby Phase... in other turns, now," the Pillar of Chaos said as she drew a card, "that ship picks a target number between 1 and 6. Monsters of the same level as the chosen number will be exterminated. If it's a 6, everything of that level or higher is doomed. Now watch for the red lights..."

In turn, one light on the ship's underbelly turned red. A second changed color, and then a third... and then nothing. The ship lifted up and the sky closed in its wake.

"Blast," Bethany said as the ship left. "It picked 3 - but Chiron's a Level Four and the Maiden in Love is Level Two, so nothing happened. Oh, well..." She took a card from her hand and set it on her Duel Disk, saying, "I activate my Pot of Greed."

The evil jar fell from the atmosphere and shattered into ten thousand pieces on the ground, two gold coins flying up from the remnants and landing on her deck. She drew two cards and continued, "Now I'll summon Kozaky in Attack Mode."

Static resounded in the air, and then a faint image came into view. It solidified, becoming the purple-skinned, pointy-eared scientist with long, messy black hair and a white labcoat. (400/400)

The Maiden in Love jumped up, excitedly clasping her hands. "Hi, Mr. Kozaky!" she said.

"Well, hello, Maiden," Kozaky replied, adjusting his coat. "How are you tonight?"

"I'm doing okay. So what are you going to show us this time?"

"Just watch, Maiden," the demon scientist told her. "I have many special things to present..."

It's Duel Monsters Mr. Wizard, Chad thought. Her power is getting... weird.

Taking another card from her hand, the Pillar of Chaos played it. "Now I equip Kozaky with Opti-Camoflauge Armor, which lets him attack directly."

Opening his coat, Kozaky revealed a strange, blue-green mesh underneath it. "This is something I've worked on for a while now," he told the Maiden in Love. "I call it Opti-Camoflauge Armor. All I do is this..." He touched the mesh, and then he was gone. "And it bends the light around me, making me invisible!"

"Wow, that's amazing, Mr. Kozaky!" the Maiden in Love enthused.

After a moment just watching the scene, Bethany ordered, "Kozaky, attack Chad directly."

The sound of footsteps rung over the bridge, and Chad narrowed his eyes, trying to find their source. Then he saw it - there was a motion blur radiating through the air as Kozaky came closer. And then... Chad fell back, grabbing his jaw, which felt like someone had just punched it. His Life Points dropped to 4,200.

Even as Kozaky reappeared on Bethany's field, the air shattered again, and another headache overtook him...

**0000000**

Six months after the death of her mother's husband, the little girl stood in front of an unfamiliar building, shaking nervously. "Why do I have to go here?" she asked for the thousandth time.

The man in the gray suit next to her told her for the thousandth time, "Because your mother had to go away and the court decided your aunt's house wouldn't be a safe environment. You'll like it here, Bethany - the other children don't have parents either, so you won't be the only one. Now just relax..."

The vision blurred, and now Bethany wandered through a large, bright room, full of other children. She smiled as she saw them all - when she'd lived with her parents, she had never gotten to know anyone. Moving up to one boy, she said, "Hello!"

He walked away as if he hadn't heard her. She followed him a few steps and said, "Hello?"

Again he ignored her. Writing him off, she moved up to a pair of girls chatting near one window and said, "Hi, there..."

For all the good that did, she could have talked to the window.

Moving from person to person, Bethany tried to get someone, anyone, to talk to her. Every child in the room ignored her, one after the other, until finally she moved to a small chair in the corner and curled into it, shedding a tear.

**0000000**

As the flashback ended, Chad pulled himself back to his feet. He didn't remember falling.

"Are you all right?" Bethany asked him. "If I could keep that from happening, I would."

The artist wiped the sweat off of his brow and replied, "I'm as right as you can expect under these circumstances."

"Fair enough," Bethany replied, sliding another card into her Duel Disk. "I'll set this facedown and end my turn."

Drawing his next card, Chad thought, Man, her entire life's screwed up... but I can't let myself get distracted now. "I set a card facedown," he said, sliding his newly-obtained card into his disk, "and enter my Battle Phase! Chiron the Mage, attack Kozaky!"

Charging up his staff, the centaur mage pulled it back and lauched another ball of energy, this time at the panicking demon scientist.

Tapping a button on her Duel Disk, Bethany watched her Trap Card lift up, and then stepped in front of Kozaky, arms spread. The magic slammed directly into her, and she flinched slightly, biting her lip as her Life Points rolled down to 1,600. Brushing off her shirt, she stepped behind her monsters, ignoring Kozaky's thumbs-up.

Nonplussed, Chad asked, "That trap... that was Astral Barrier, wasn't it?"

"Close," Bethany replied. "Absolute End - the one-turn version. Either way, it lets me take the hit instead of losing a monster."

"But you had less than half your Life Points. Why did you give up so many more just to protect Kozaky?"

"You'll see," the Pillar of Chaos told him. "Now, anything else?"

Grunting, Chad shook his head. "I end my turn." He then paused and asked, "Did you see my past?"

As she drew, Bethany nodded and said, "You had a really boring childhood, Chad." Overhead, the Blind Destruction ship descended again.

_Here we go,_ Chad thought. _Anything but a four and I'm fine..._

The lights on the ship began to turn red, one by one, until all six were glowing a bright red. Since none of the monsters on the field were more than Level Four, it flew back up, disappearing into the night sky.

"Why do I bother?" Looking at her card, the Pillar of Chaos played it, saying, "I activate Card of Demise. This lets me draw five cards now, but in five turns I lose my hand. In five turns, that shouldn't be a problem."

Five candles appeared in front of Bethany, and all of them lit simultaneously. A card appeared over each one, and she took them into her hand, fanning them out. After a moment, she nodded and played one of them. "Since I have Kozaky on the field, I can summon this monster..."

On her field, Kozaky pulled a remote control out of his coat, adjusting a set of dials on its face. Seeing this, the Maiden in Love looked at it, asking, "What's that, Mr. Kozaky?"

"This, Maiden, is very special to me," the Fiend replied. "You see, I've spent the last few years working on a very important project, one that I can use to smite all those who have mocked me and refused to show me the respect I deserve." His eyes flashed behind his glasses. "Those fools! I'll show them! I'll show the world!"

The Maiden in Love inched away, muttering, "You're scaring me, Mr. Kozaky..."

"Sorry, Maiden." Holding up his remote, Kozaky pressed one of the buttons, announcing, "Rise, Giant Kozaky!"

The bridge began to shake, several bolts falling from the support columns. After a moment, the street cracked, and part of the bridge pulled away, the black waters themselves receding as a giant, sealed elevator rose from beneath the Mississippi River. The elevator's platform locked onto the street, and its door began to open...

What emerged was possibly the most ridiculous giant robot ever designed. It looked like a giant, corpulant office worker, complete with a tie painted under its enormous grinning head. A drill and a hammer protuded from its back, and its hands were large clamps emerging from fairly skinny "arms". (2,500/2,400)

Chad blinked, and then began to laugh, holding his stomach with one hand. "You must be joking me... You really must..." He held onto his head, his shirt tails shaking as he looked at the Giant Kozaky. "Run! It's the attack of the giant robot salaryman!"

"First, Giant Kozaky's a Fiend-type," Bethany said in return, hand under her chin. "Second, what can you do to stop it? I switch the Maiden in Love to Defense Mode and prepare for battle... Giant Kozaky, attack Chiron the Mage with Businessman's Missile."

The Maiden in Love knelt as, next to her, the front of the Giant Kozaky opened up, and what appeared to be a large container of take-out Chinese rolled into view, chopsticks sticking out of it. One arm clamped onto the container and lifted it up, while the other withdrew the chopsticks and pointed them at the centaur. The ends flipped open, and a series of small rockets sprayed over Chad's field.

Multiple explosions rocked the bridge, and Chad threw an arm in front of his face, breathing through his sleeve as a giant cloud of smoke obscured his field. Once the cloud cleared, any sign he'd had a monster on the field was gone, as were 700 Life Points - his total now read 3,500.

"I activate both my facedown cards!" Chad declared as the cards flipped up. "The first is Numinous Healer, which gives me 1,000 Life Points when I take damage!"

The expected angel didn't arrive this time; instead, Chad found himself suffused with glorious energies, sparks literally flying from his hands as the healing rush ran through him. He raised his clenched fists and threw them down, roaring slightly as his Life Points went up to 4,500.

"And your other card?" the Pillar of Chaos asked.

Blinking, Chad blushed and unclenched his fists. "It's called Animal Trail, and it lets me add a Beast-type monster to my hand from my deck when a monster I control is destroyed." He took his deck out, pulled out his Soul Tiger, and tucked it into his hand.

Shrugging, Bethany said to Kozaky, "That won't save him from a direct attack. You won't have to bother with the Opti-Camoflauge Armor this time."

With an acknowledging nod, the demonic scientist walked up to Chad, who glared down at him. Pulling his foot back, Kozaky faked kicking the artist in the head. As Chad went to guard that, the fiend switched feet and kicked him in the crotch. The tall man crumbled as his Life Point hit 4,100.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn," the Pillar of Chaos said. She then looked up as the sky shattered once again...

**0000000**

Unlike the narratives of the previous flashbacks, this one was a series of jumps through time. Her first day at school turned out the same as her first day as the orphanage: nobody ever talked to her. She spent recess curled on the swing set and crying.

A jump, and she was back at the orphanage, being told by the man in the gray suit (she'd never learned his name), "Miss Toth, these are Mr. and Mrs. Amaldae. They've agreed to take you in as a foster child..."

The scene repeated itself four different times. The people being introduced to Bethany changed each time, as did the names the man called them, but the end result was always the same - she was back in the orphanage before the year was up. The last time, she hadn't even bothered unpacking.

After the fifth such introduction ("Mr. and Mrs. Grimhale", the man called these ones), Bethany found herself in a fairly small room, her possessions in a depressingly small number of boxes, each one fairly small in itself. She was about eleven now, and wearing a light gray dress she'd saved her allowances at the Amaldae's to buy. For some reason, each set of foster parents had found it easier to pay her than to talk to her.

Sliding off the bed, she opened the top box on the pile and dug through it until she found a package, wrapped in newspaper. She unwrapped it, and retrieved the doll she'd had since she was five - the one that she'd kept with her from destination to destination, and the only thing she had bothered to take out of the boxes at the last home.

"Guess we're stuck here for now, huh?" she told the doll, hugging it. "How much do you want to bet we'll be gone before summer?"

She fell onto the bed and stared at the door. If she was lucky, one of the Grimhales would come in and tell her when dinner was ready; otherwise, they'd just yell it upstairs, and another day would pass without either party actually seeing the other.

"This isn't right," Bethany whispered to herself. "This isn't how it should be. When I have a family..." She paused, putting her hands behind her head. "Once I have a family of my own, it won't be like this. I refuse to let it be like this."

She dozed off at that point, falling into the same dream she had every night: herself, surrounded by her children, finally with a family of her own...

**0000000**

Once the pain in his head and his groin was relieved, Chad unfolded and rose to his feet, stumbling a step. _What sort of Dark Duel is this crap, anyway?_ he thought. _And what's with these flashblacks?_ _They're sad, but they're not "Better the Devil you know" sad._

Drawing a card, Chad assessed his hand and slid two cards into his Duel Disk, one in a Monster Zone and one in the Magic and Trap slots. "One card facedown and one monster in Defense Mode, and that's about all I can do. Your turn."

As Bethany drew, the sky opened up and the ship of Blind Destruction hovered into view. One light turned red, and then it stopped.

Chad raised an eyebrow, saying, "Level One? That's Kozaky gone..."

Each of the lights on the ship's underside began to flash red in turn, a hatch opening and lowering out a very elaborate laser beam. It drew in power, charging up a large shot of energy, and then fired at Kozaky.

"Run, Maiden!" the fiend shouted before the energy hit him. Once it did hit him, it didn't leave any trace he'd been there.

Frowning, Bethany noted, "Without Kozaky on the field, Giant Kozaky is destroyed, dealing me 2,500 points of damage in the process. That's more than I actually have..."

The tall man cut her off, noting, "Which means this duel is mine."

Smoke began to rise from the Giant Kozaky's eyes and mouth, and the smell of something burning filled the air. Flames licked out of the giant fiend/robot's joints, and a small explosion severed one of its limbs, which dropped to the ground with a crash. The Giant Kozaky moved backwards, and then part of its structure collapsed on itself, and it fell backwards, directly onto Bethany. There was another explosion, and this one shook the bridge.

For a long moment, there was absolute silence, mainly because Chad was knocked senseless by the blast. He eventually shook his head and pulled himself back onto his feet, seeing his cuff was torn. _This shirt was hard to find, dang it!_ he thought. Looking down, he noted to his surprise that the Dark Duel's seal had yet to vanish.

"You should have let me finish," the Pillar of Chaos said from the other side of the bridge. The smoke cleared, revealing her standing in the center of a large scorchmark. The Unhappy Girl had her arms wrapped around her "body", and small burns were evident on the Image's arms. "The damage is more than my Life Point total, which activates my Image Effect, Eternal Misery. This negates any damage that would leave me with negative Life Points. I can only be defeated by damage if it reduces my Life Points to exactly zero."

Chad's eyes widened, and he thought, _Oh, damn it! I can't do precise damage - that's Gerald's field!_

Nodding at Chad's expression, Bethany continued, "There is more. The instant I activated my Image, all instant-win effects ceased to work. You can no longer win by Exodia, Destiny Board, Final Countdown, Last Turn, or any other alternate victory. I can only lose by exact damage or being unable to draw on my Draw Phase."

Unable to speak, the artist turned his thoughts inward. _I am in trouble,_ he thought. _So much trouble it's not even funny. How am I supposed to juggle the Battle Damage I deal to knock her down to precisely zero points?_

"It's my turn," the Pillar of Chaos continued as one candle on her field blew out.

The ship of Blind Destruction descended into view again, and the lights on its underbelly began to turn red. When it was done, five of them were glowing the color of blood. Since no Level Five monsters were on the field, it left without taking action.

"Why did I bother playing that card? Either way, as you may have surmised, you are in very deep trouble... I just drew my Card of Night." She turned it around, revealing a black-bordered card with the Magic symbol on the corner. Its picture showed a large, bearded man in red robes presiding over a warped and twisted landscape, one hand to the sky.

"Don't tell me that's..." the tall man began.

Bethany finished his sentence. **"...True Face of Chaos."**

She played the card, and the sky began to melt. Long, psychadelic "fingers" drooped overhead, brushing Chad's hair. It felt like every sticky thing he'd ever touched rolled into a ball and lobbed at him. The river, turned black and sludging, began to churn underneath them, throwing dark tendrils of water towards the sinking sky. They joined, forming an amorphous, fluid cage all around the duelists.

"During your Standby Phase," Bethany explained, "the card will take one of six effects, judged by a die roll. On a one, the card will destroy itself and permanently mutate my body. That's the only effect that has any real benefit to you, though... all the others will disadvantage you in some way."

"Such as?" Chad asked.

"On a two, you lose a card from the top of your deck. On a three, you lose 1,000 Life Points. On a four, a card in your Graveyard is removed from the game. On a five, a card on your field is destroyed. And on a six, all cards in play other than True Face of Chaos go up in smoke." She shrugged. "I've talked too much, so I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

As Chad drew, a glowing dice fell from the sky, landing directly in front of the True Face of Chaos's card hologram. It bounced twice, and then came to a stop with the number 2 showing. Suddenly, his Duel Disk began to spasm and contort on his arm, until finally the top card of his deck slid off and fell into his Graveyard slot.

_So much for my Forest,_ he thought. Aloud, he announced, "I summon Berserk Gorilla in Attack Mode."

The river surged underneath them, and one of the "bars" of the True Face of Chaos's cage began to shake and quiver. Two massive hands broke through and tore through before their owner sprang out - a giant, furious gorilla, snorting flames as his muscles twitched. One hand clenched into a fist as he glared at Bethany. (2,000/1,000)

"Since I don't have a choice, Berserk Gorilla, attack the Maiden in Love!" Chad ordered.

With a loud cry, the primate charged forward on all fours, rearing back to flatten the cowering maiden...

"Activate Astral Barrier," the Pillar of Chaos interrupted. "Now I can switch any attacks on my monsters to a direct attack on my Life Points, which I'll do with this one."

The Maiden in Love turned translucent, and the gorilla's punch passed harmlessly through her. With a snarl, he flung himself at Bethany, trying to grab her... only to have the Unhappy Girl step forward and kick him in the stomach. The gorilla rolled backwards, ambling back to Chad's field.

_And because the attack would have left her with negative 400 Life Points, the damage is negated,_ Chad thought. _Great. Now she can effectively negate any of my attacks as long as they wouldn't deal exactly enough damage to defeat her..._ "I'll end my turn," he said.

With a shrug, Bethany drew her next card, watching as the Blind Destruction descended again. "Want to make a bet?" she said. "I personally bet that five lights will turn red."

Chad didn't respond, but as it so happened, the Pillar of Chaos was correct: five lights turned red, one at a time. The ship hovered overhead for a second, and then disappeared back into the sky.

"Why did I even play that card?" the Pillar of Chaos grumbled. "Ignoring my bad taste in traps, I'll activate my facedown Magic Card - a worthwhile bluff named Roll of Fate." As she turned the card over, a massive treasure chest appeared before her, rumbling slightly. "My Duel Disk rolls a die and lets me draw that many cards, as long as I then remove that many cards off the top of my deck from play."

Pulling her foot back, Bethany kicked open the chest, which contained four gems. She took hold of her deck and drew four cards before pausing and looking up. Four holes opened in the sky, and long, spindly arms began to reach down, grasping at her. In response, she took four cards from her deck and threw them overhead, one landing in each hand. Thus sated, the arms pulled back.

That was disturbingly nonchalant, Chad thought, scratching his lower back.

As she studied her cards, Bethany smirked, holding one up. "The card I'm about to play next is a fairly unusual one. You see, most players use its effect to Special Summon it when they take 1,000 or more points of damage. But that always seemed too desperate to me, so... I sacrifice Maiden in Love and Unhappy Maiden..."

The tall man's eyes widened as he thought, _A double sacrifice! Nobody just throws those into their decks... Could this be what she built her strategy on?_

"...to summon a monster called Ruklamba the Spirit King," Bethany finished.

The Maiden in Love glared at her player, and the Unhappy Maiden briefly ceased being facedown, only to spend that time crying. Both then vanished in twin balls of light, which quickly turned black and began melding into each other. The darkness flowed upward, shaping itself into a most bizarre form - an serpentine man with wild black hair and a head like an alligator. (1,000/2,000)

Neither duelist said anything. Off in the distance, there was a sound like a pin landing on a cricket. Finally, Chad muttered, "You've got to be kidding me. Who designed that thing and why did they make it a Level Eight?"

"I like to think the design staff at Industrial Illusions were on acid," the Pillar of Chaos replied. "However, that's not the point. The point is that by sacrificing Ruklamba, I can Special Summon monsters from my hand as long as their combined Attack Points don't exceed 2,000. So I'll give him up to Special Summon three Mokey Mokeys from my hand."

Throwing its head back, Ruklamba opened its mouth and emitted a long, drawn-out cry into the night sky over the Twin Cities. It then raised its hands and tore to pieces, turning into multiple glowing lights that orbited around Bethany before flying into one of the columns of the True Face of Chaos.

Thus imbued, the column began to bulge and twist, expanding and contracting in a bizarre rhythm before it began to swell. And then it burst, and three tiny fairies flew out. They hovered over Bethany's head for a moment, and then landed on her field. Each of them were small, white, and square-shaped, with wings on their sides and a question mark over their heads.

As one, they queried, "Mokey mokey?" (300/100)

Despite his duelist's intuition reminding him that the situation was still rather perilous, Chad failed to stop himself from laughing, bending over. "You must be joking me!" he said. "Those monsters get funnier every time I see them! I mean, look at them! They're Chiclets with wings!"

If she thought Chad was rude, the young woman didn't show it, instead telling him, "We all have our own opinions. Take your turn now."

Chad drew, and then the bridge shook under his feet. Looking down, he saw the surface under his foot begin to retract and jumped away, hitting the Dark Duel's barrier behind him. The bridge's top was warping inwards, and he watched it form a giant number 3 between himself and Bethany.

"That would be True Face of Chaos at work," she explained as the ground returned to number, smiling for the first time since they'd begun the duel. "On a three, the card deals you 1,000 points of damage. Try not to scream."

Before he could say anything else, Chad felt a twitch in the back of his head. And then his muscles began to tense and relax in no apparent order, his hair standing on end. Suddenly, bits and pieces of his body began to vanish and return, again without any sort of real order. He managed not to scream, but as his body began to stretch and release unnaturally, he bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood. His Life Points sank to 3,100.

Once the chaos was over and the artist was back to normal, sinking to his knees, the Pillar of Chaos looked at him, head tilted. "So what was it like being ravaged by Chaos?"

Chad's response did not come in words. Instead, he stood.up, wiped the blood off his mouth, took a deep breath, and threw his head back. And then he roared like a lion, his eyes shut as the beast in his soul screamed out.

A white fog emerged from his body, gathering in the air behind him as the roar echoed on the supports of the bridge, and rapidly took shape. What emerged was a long, brown beast with a shining white horn; aside from the horn, it had the body of a lion, complete with a dark brown mane and sharp claws on the end of its paws.

"Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts," Chad croaked, rubbing his throat; the roar had wrecked his vocal cords. "What do you know.. I really am a lion." He then took a breath, swallowed, and said, "I activate my Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two!"

The surface of the river swelled, and then a beam of light penetrated it, followed by several others before it burst and the angel of Graceful Charity emerged. Her robe was soaked, her wings were stained with muck, and she had duckweed in her hair. Landing in front of Chad, she threw the cards at him and tapped her foot.

"Hey, I'm not the one causing this crap!" the tall man replied as he tucked the cards into his hand. He then handed her the Gyaku-Gire Panda and Poison Fangs, whereupon she sniffed and vanished. Taking one of his draws, he set it on his disk and continued, "Now I summon the Pitch-Black Warwolf in Attack Mode!"

Yet another of the bizarre columns of the True Face of Chaos began to quake, bulging in long, thin spots. A black sword flashed, slicing it open, and another cut followed shortly thereafter. More slashes later, a snarling black-furred werewolf stood on the column, holding a sword and pounding his armor with one hand. He howled and leaped onto Chad's field. (1,600/600)

Bethany looked at Chad's eyes and said, "No, I don't know why all our monsters are in the columns. If you want my theory, it's a chaos-imprisoning-order metaphor. The Darkness is shallow like that sometimes."

Nodding, Chad sighed and replied, "Whatever the reason, it has nothing to do with my next move. The rules do, however. Berserk Gorilla, attack the Mokey Mokey on the right."

As before, the gorilla enthusiastically charged, his fists leaving holes in the street. As before, Bethany activated Astral Barrier, and as before, the attack passed right through her monster. This time, however, the Unhappy Girl grabbed the Berserk Gorilla's arm and executed a judo throw of surprising quality. It was a moment before the dazed ape picked himself up and staggered back to Chad's field.

"And now that my monster is done being foolish, I end my turn," Chad concluded.

As Bethany drew, she took one of the other cards in her hand, saying, "Before the ship even comes down, I'm going to dispose of it with Emergency Provisions, chaining it to my Draw Phase. Fat lot of good it ever did me..."

To Chad's disgust, the bizarre mouth emerged from under Bethany's shirt, apparently connected by a long tendril of flesh to her stomach. It bit through Blind Destruction, shattering it to pieces and raising Bethany's Life Points to 2,600. Off in the distance, he could have sworn something was crashing into the Mississippi River.

"Next," his opponent continued, "I play the Magic Card known as Pot of Charity. By simply removing a Light monster in my Graveyard from play, I draw three cards. So, since Maiden in Love isn't very useful anymore..."

The elegant form of the Pot of Charity rose from the ground, and the Maiden in Love appeared atop it before vanishing inside. The pot vanished, and Bethany drew three times.

After a moment's deliberation, she continued, "I play Mokey Mokey Smackdown - which you've likely heard of - and then Polymerization. This combines the three Mokey Mokeys into the Mokey Mokey King."

_Not only do I know that card, I've run into it before,_ Chad thought. _This is going to be cute but unpleasant at the same time._

While the Continuous Magic Card shimmered into view next to the True Face of Chaos, the three Mokey Mokeys on Bethany's field jumped on top of each other. With a loud "Mo... KEY!", they all leapt up and crashed to the ground, turning into a white puddle.

This puddle began to bubble, swelling from within, until it lifted off the ground like a flat white balloon. Unlike most of the balloons Chad had seen in his lifetime (which seemed designed to teach children the virtue of not releasing the string), this one hung in midair and began to inflate. In due time, it resembled a Mokey Mokey... only twenty feet on a side. (300/100)

"Okay," Chad muttered. "World's_ largest_ Chiclet with wings..."

With a shrug, Bethany declared, "That ends my turn."

The tall man nodded and drew, only to feel the bridge shaking again. His eyes flicked down, revealing a giant number 5 embedded in the bridge.

"On a five," the Pillar of Chaos reminded him, "one card on your field is destroyed. I think I'll dispose of your facedown card."

Once she said it, the card began to contract, shriveling to the size of Chad's thumbnail. It then rapidly expanded and contracted, pulsing, until finally the card couldn't take anymore and shattered.

_There goes my Call of the Haunted_, he thought. Shaking his head, he then found a series of unfamiliar images flitting through his head. These instantly made sense, and he began, "On my Standby Phase, Gazelle's Image Effect comes into play. I call it Gift of the Prey, and it gives me 100 Life Points for each Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast I control and in my Graveyard! At the moment, that's six..."

Behind him, the King of Mythical Beasts roared, and Chad's body shone with an deep red light. His Life Points increased to 3,700.

"So?" Bethany said.

"So," Chad replied, "that's just the start. I now play my Pot of Greed." He slipped the card into his Duel Disk and prudently took a step back.

As expected, the pot fell from the sky and smashed into the ground right where he'd stood. He rolled his eyes, drew twice, and sighed. "Berserk Gorilla, try to kill Mokey Mokey King."

For a third time, the furious primate scrambled across the High Bridge, his hands tearing at the street. This time, however, Bethany shook her head, and the roaring beast took hold of the Mokey Mokey King's tiny leg. Howling in victory, the Berserk Gorilla thrashed the oversized fairy about, slamming it back and forth on the ground until it shattered.

The Pillar of Chaos watched her Life Points plunge to 900 before saying, "With the King's death, its component Mokey Mokeys return to my field." And indeed, the three smaller fairies flashed into being before her. (300/100)

_Attacking with my Pitch-Black Warwolf would be foolish,_ Chad thought. _Even thought Mokey Mokey Smackdown wouldn't matter this turn, all I'd be doing is wasting an attack._ He took another card from his hand and slid it into place, saying, "I set this facedown and end my turn."

As Bethany drew, something happened that Chad hadn't counted on. She looked at the card she'd drawn, and then her hair fell away from her eyes (which were a light blue, he noted). Letting out a little gasp, she held the card to her chest, tears brimming on her eyes. Behind her, the Unhappy Girl was crying openly.

This sudden switch from her previous state to outright emotion came as a bit of a shock to the artist, and so he asked, "What did you just draw? Even game-winning cards don't usually cause people to burst into tears like that."

Dabbing at her eyes with her hair, the Pillar of Chaos (who looked much less like a Pillar and more like a young woman with depression) murmured, "It's a personal thing... I summon the Dancing Elf in Attack Mode."

There was a small whirlwind of leaves, and a tiny woman in a green dress rose from the ground, spinning around as she did so. She had pointed ears, and her blonde hair flowed about her body. Chad soon caught on - she looked a great deal like the doll from the flashbacks. (300/200)

"Maybe the next flashback will help you," Bethany said. "Let's prompt it - I play the Magic Card Secret Path to the Treasures, letting her attack directly this turn."

Something fell out of the air as she played that, fluttering down to the ground. It looked like a map drawn on parchment, coming to rest in front of the Dancing Elf. She knelt on the ground, tracing a path through the map's outlines, and then smiled and nodded.

"Attack him directly, Dancing Elf!" Bethany yelled, the most active noise she'd made that entire duel. "Wind's Dances!"

Standing up, the elf adjusted her dress, set her toes to the ground, and began to spin. The wind picked up around her, and then she stopped, sending a small tornado at Chad. The wind hit with surprising force, flooring him and knocking his Life Points to 3,400. And then his head throbbed, and the sky broke into a thousand pieces...

**0000000**

A year before Bethany became the Pillar of Chaos, she got a call from her doctor...

"Miss Toth? The test results are back from the lab."

"And?"

"We've discovered the reason for your stomach pains... Are you prepared?"

"...I think so..."

"Miss Toth, the tests indicate that something has gone wrong with your reproductive system. Until we conduct further tests, we can't be sure if it's just a blockage or something more serious. However, all of the images show severe scar tissue around your uterus and fallopian tubes... I'm sorry to say this, but you will never be able to have children."

"_What?_"

"I'm very sorry, Miss Toth..."

None of what he said afterwords registered on her mind. She hung up a few minutes later, stepped into her bedroom, and curled up into a small ball, crying the rest of the morning away.

The flashback jumped forward to later that day, to a small restaurant where Bethany had taken a job as a waitress. She was on her break, bent over a glass of water and sniffing on occasion.

Someone approached her table, gesturing to the empty seat across from her and asking, "Do you mind if I sit here? There aren't many open spots."

"Go ahead," she said, her voice flat and lifeless.

As the man settled into his seat, she couldn't help noticing, even through her lingering sorrow, just how unusual his outfit was. He wore a long-sleeved green shirt, a green vest, and... green pants. Who outside of a leprechaun wore green pants? He was about 5'9", and had the sort of physique that indicated he had some atheletic experience in his past. His hair was a messy brown, with light blonde highlights.

His eyes flicked to her nametag, and he muttered, "Bethany... pretty name. You can call me Alexander." Pausing, he then asked, "Why were you crying?"

"Who says I was crying?" Bethany replied, sipping her water.

"Your eyes and that tone of voice. Sadness is something I've dealt with a lot in my time." He smiled, drumming one hand along the table. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you have good reasons for it. So, how long have you worked here?"

"About a month now. It's nice, not having to rely on someone else."

Alexander nodded. "I know the feeling," he said. "Currently I'm tied up in a major partnership, but it's nice to be a solitary unit now and then. So... do you live around here?"

"I live in Bloomington," she replied. "I carpool with one of the other waitresses. You?"

"I've got a place in town. It's not much, but it's remarkably private."

Despite herself, Bethany was feeling a little happier. She glanced to the clock and stood up, saying, "Sorry, but my break's over."

With another smile, Alexander replied, "In that case... could you bring me a menu?"

Several scenes flashed by in quick succession, showing the man in green clothing (a fact that never changed) making multiple visits to the restaurant. The last scene was about a month after the first, and showed him finishing a meal. Bethany walked up to his table with the bill, setting it down and saying, "Whenever you're ready, you can pay up front... as you know."

"Thank you." With a long pause, Alexander rubbed the back of his head. He then said, "Umm... what time do you get off work tonight?"

The girl paused. She knew very little about Alexander. She didn't even know his last name. All she knew was that he had a sense of humor, liked pitas, and had a warm smile. But... he actually noticed her. He'd actually requested her as his waitress on one occasion. And she'd seen blind dates that worked with less information between the parties than she had about him. Finally, she said, "5:30..."

"In that case, may I take you out for dinner at a place with more... prestige than this?" He was blushing as he said it.

Bethany blushed as well, thinking, _He... he asked me out..._ "No problem."

And with that, the flashback faded out...

**0000000**

As his head cleared, Chad shook out the last cobwebs and stared at his opponent, eyes stuck wide. "So that's it," he said, not quite believing it. "That's why you became a Pillar... Alexander." He blinked at that point. "You love Alexander."

Bethany nodded, and her bangs fell in front of her eyes again. "Yes..." she said, her voice back to its old emotionless state. "After my one dream was stolen from me, Alexander appeared and made my life mean something again. Meeting him was the one time I ever experienced good luck in my entire life. I love Alexander... and I won't fail him. And now that you know my reasons, I will continue my Battle Phase."

_Oh, right,_ Chad thought. _This is still a duel. That was such a long flashback I forgot she still had all three Mokey Mokeys left to attack with._ He then gulped. _The last time someone did this to me, I barely scraped out a victory..._

"Mokey Mokey," Bethany ordered the one on the left, "attack the Berserk Gorilla with Confused Stare."

The tiny square angel fluttered up to the primate, bobbed its question mark, and batted his nose. There was a quiet moment, and then the gorilla screamed before he grabbed the Mokey Mokey in one hand and crushed it.

With a sob, the Unhappy Girl grabbed Bethany and embraced her, shielding her from Life Point loss. Meanwhile, the other Mokey Mokeys watched one of their number die, eyes bugging out. With a loud "Mokey _MOKEY_!", they turned red, swelled up, and slapped their hands together, their question marks turning into exclamation points. (300/100 - 3,000/100)

The Pillar of Chaos nodded to the middle Mokey Mokey. "You, attack the Pitch-Black Warwolf with Infinite Anger Burst."

"Mokey mokey!" the Fairy replied before he zoomed towards the lycanthrope.

Hitting his facedown card, Chad interrupted, "Activate Sakuretsu Armor!"

A shining armor surrounded the Pitch-Black Warwolf, and he spread his arms, welcoming the attack. The Mokey Mokey charged in, striking the Beast-Warrior's chest, and then the armor exploded and took the Mokey Mokey with it.

This didn't even make Bethany raise an eyebrow, as she merely turned to the last one and said, "Mokey Mokey, your turn."

The third Mokey Mokey charged up to the Pitch-Black Warwolf, raised its hands, and cried out, "Mokey mokey!" before swinging them down. A red ball of force formed over the exclamation point and struck the werewolf, dissolving him and sending his sword spiraling off of the bridge. Chad's Life Points dropped to 2,000 in the aftermath.

"I end my turn," the Pillar of Chaos concluded, and the Mokey Mokey sighed in its content, returning to normal. (3,000/100 - 300/100) The last candle of the long-forgotten Card of Demise went out, and she shrugged, discarding the one card in her hand.

Taking hold of his next card, Chad thought, _The miracles in this game always happen on the last turn before your defeat. So if I'm going to get a miracle, it better be now!_

He drew his next card, and then the bridge began to shake. _Right, the Darkness is running this game,_ he soon remembered. _So much for miracles_. He watched the ground, seeing a large number 4 appear under his feet.

"On a four," the Pillar of Chaos said, checking the True Face of Chaos on her disk, "one card in your Graveyard is removed from the game. I think I'll get rid of Chiron the Mage, just to spite you."

With no way of preventing it, Chad was forced to watch as his favorite monster briefly appeared on the field. The monster's image warped and contracted before tearing asunder, scattering to the four winds. At that point, Gazelle roared, and Chad glowed from his Image effect, his Life Points restored to 2,500.

Finally looking at his draw, the tall man smiled, declaring, "Enough anarchy - I play Heavy Storm, destroying all Magic and Trap Cards in play! And if True Face of Chaos is anything like its Terror counterpart, it's helpless to resist!"

A strong breeze crossed the bridge, blowing both duelists's hair about. Soon, the breeze became a gust, then a gale, and then a tropical storm. Both duelists braced themselves just as the wind became a full-out tornado, raging all around them and destroying Bethany's Mokey Mokey Smackdown.

As the wind died down, True Face of Chaos seemed unaffected at first. But a second later, it teetered before tipping over with a crash, shattering on impact. The columns formed by the sky and the water shattered along with them, several waterspouts marking where the water had dropped.

There was a pause, and then Chad asked, "Hold it. Why do you still look normal? I thought True Face of Chaos would mutate you if it was destroyed."

"Thankfully," the unaltered Pillar of Chaos replied, "that only applies if its own effect destroys it. If another card destroys it, I'm not affected. Alexander created that card for me; he cannot create a Card of Night without some sort of drawback, but he ensured that it was as light a drawback as he could manage."

"I have to know: is Hanzaki jealous of you?"

"Very."

Taking another card from his hand, Chad continued, "He likely won't be after this next attack. I summon The Earth - Hex-Sealed Fusion in Attack Mode!"

Once again, the bridge shook, parts of it breaking from the ground. These parts fused together into a giant stone mass, with a mysterious light at its center, and small amounts of debris orbited it. (1,000/1,200)

_Can't believe I'm attacking with it, but..._ Chad thought. "Earth, attack the Dancing Elf with Unformed Strike!"

The mass of stone floated overhead, situating itself over the Dancing Elf. Part of it broke off, spinning around itself, and fell on the elf like a massive press, crushing the little fairy and sending Bethany's Life Points down to 200. The separated piece rejoined the whole before it settled on Chad's field.

"My elf..." she said, a tear briefly appearing from under her bangs. "My... baby..." She then wiped her eyes and ceased showing signs of emotion.

"Sorry about that," the tall man said. "Berserk Gorilla, finish off the Mokey Mokey."

That was all the instruction the Berserk Gorilla needed, as he hurled himself forward and punched the little angel hard enough to send it out into the stratosphere. Even as this took place, the Unhappy Girl held onto Bethany from behind, absorbing the shock.

_How futile,_ Chad thought, concluding, "That ends my turn."

Bethany drew, and then she began to do something Chad didn't expect: she began to laugh. It was only a light chuckle, thin and somewhat reedy from unuse, but it most definitely qualified as a laugh. Taking a breath, she explained, "You know why I laugh? Because I just realized something. The only monster in your deck that could even stand a chance at defeating me is... well... there isn't one. Even your Magician of Faith is 100 points too strong."

She paused, and it sank in. Chad lowered his hands, realizing that she was right. His deck was built for overkill, not for this situation.

"I don't have to play anything," she continued. "I have more cards in this deck than you do in yours, I'm almost certain. You'll deck out long before you ever find a way to only deal 200 Life Points of damage. That being the case, I pass." She crossed her arms, the Unhappy Girl no longer crying, although she still had her head down.

As Chad reached for his next card by habit, he stopped, arms falling limp. _She's right,_ he thought. _I'm finished. Regardless of what I might do, I can't land that final blow. I do too much damage! How am I supposed to do 200 points on a direct attack? I can't! Nothing I play is that weak! It's over!_

The artist began to sink to one knee, hands on his head and eyes wide. Bethany merely watched as Chad began to mutter, "No... this isn't right... no..."

"Do you yield?" the Pillar of Chaos asked him after a moment.

_Do I?_ Chad thought. _I can't lose... I can't become another Infected. This is..._ He paused. _This is my chance. This is a way to prove my worth. This is why I'm in this city! Why I went with Gerald! I can't lose! I can't! I can't! I WON'T!_

Springing to his feet, Chad took a deep breath, hurled back his head and roared. The air rippled around him as he let loose the roar, the bridge shaking and Bethany's hair blowing back. The Unhappy Girl covered her ears and screamed.

The roar echoed across the Mississippi River, carried on the night wind. For longer than seemed possible, Chad continued his roar, Gazelle harmonizing with him as his wild nature broke free.

And then the kaledescopic sky overhead cracked, and a beam of pure light fell from it, covering Chad...

**0000000**

Degas and Alexander fell back from their seats as they watched the duel, hands over their ears. "Darkness be damned, what is _that?"_ Degas yelled.

**0000000**

A lazy young man fell to his knees, breathing hard, somewhere on the streets of Minneapolis. He had run for quite some time, and every last one of his reserves were spent. He couldn't summon up enough strength of will to stand, let alone keep running.

"I have to keep going," he muttered to himself between pants. "She needs help... but I can't even move..."

And then the roar burst through the sky, shaking him to his very core. Hearing it, he looked up, and then felt a sudden rush of energy into his system. He climbed to his feet and turned to the High Bridge, watching the light descend.

"I see," the young man muttered. "You've got your own troubles tonight. Well... you seem to have your problems under control..."

And he resumed running towards the Minneapolis Hilton.

**0000000**

On the other side of Minneapolis, near the ruins of the IDS Building, Father Young was deep in thought. None of the thoughts involved were positive ones.

_A demon,_ he thought to himself. _They actually summoned and made pacts with a demon! This is unforgivable... As much as I feel this way is right, some things are not done, and this is one of them!_ How could they? He sighed. _Of all the damning acts one can do, they've committed the worst. We are all condemned now..._

The roar sounded overhead, and the priest looked up, crossing himself in a mild panic. After a moment, the light came down, and he followed it to the High Bridge, a thin smile now on his face.

"So ends that battle," he told himself. "The Darkness fares poorly... as they should. None who deal with a demon should be allowed to be victorious."

Sitting on the rubble, he crossed himself again.

**0000000**

After a long minute, the roar ceased, and Chad caught his breath. He then took hold of the top card of his deck, nodded, and yelled, "I draw!" As he did so, Gazelle growled and he glowed red, his Life Points now 3,000. He turned the card over and slid it into his deck, declaring, "I play Card of Sanctity!"

Both duelists drew six cards, and then one of the cards Chad held began to glow. He stared at it, unbelieving - the card had a white border. _The Light gave me one of these?_ he thought._ No... this is part of my own soul..._

Seeing the card glow, Bethany held herself, shivering. The color began to bleed from the skies.

"I begin," Chad said, "by sacrificing my facedown Soul Tiger and my Berserk Gorilla for Behemoth, the King of All Animals!"

Both beasts lowered their heads reverently before they disappeared. The bridge began to shake after that, and soon one giant foot struck the ground next to Chad. This foot, pink-skinned and with sharp claws, was joined by another, and soon their owner stepped forward, snarling. It was a gigantic beast with purple fur in a strip on its back, with curling horns and massive jaws. (2,700/1,500)

Bethany shook her head, but when she spoke there was a definite edge of fear. "T-That's pretty useless... You're still going to deal far too much damage to me!"

Shaking his head, the tall man continued, "I'll use Behemoth's effect to put Mad Dog of Darkness and Des Kangaroo back in my hand. And now..." He took the glowing card and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I play a Continuous Magic Card, the Heaven's Gift named **Totem of the Merciful Lion**!"

A beam of light shone behind Chad, soon beginning to fade. When the light vanished, it left a totem pole in its place. Several pictures were carved onto the pole, showing a wounded Axe Raider and a Super War Lion. In the pictures, the lion encountered the wounded warrior, prepared to kill him... and then thought better of it, sparing him and letting him escape.

"The spirits of this totem allow Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters to overcome their savage natures," Chad explained. "Its effect lets them hold back on their blows and show mercy to the opponent. In game terms, I can choose to reduce the Battle Damage a monster of those types deals, and in exchange gain that many Life Points. Basically..." He smiled. "I can deal exactly as much damage as I choose."

The Pillar of Chaos blinked, and then fell backwards into her Image's arms. The Unhappy Girl, on the other hand, seemed almost ecstatic at the thought of her defeat. She actually smiled.

"Behemoth," Chad ordered, "attack with Wild Monarch's Crash! And using Totem of the Merciful Lion, I negate all but 200 points of the damage!"

Once more, the bridge shook as Behemoth approached the stunned Pillar of Chaos... but rather than strike her down, he merely touched her with his paw, head held high. Bethany's Life Points dropped to zero, while Chad's rose to 5,000. The duel was over.

Gazelle disappeared from behind Chad, and the Unhappy Girl, now crying tears of joy, disappeared from behind Bethany, leaving the Pillar swaying on her feet. Overhead, the chaotic sky began to crack and fragment, until it shattered, raining shards of itself into the black river below and leaving only the ordinary night sky. The river itself bubbled, surged upwards, and then resumed its normal color.

"Well, Bethany?" Chad asked, shutting off his Duel Disk.

There was no response, although black energy began to crackle behind her. After a long moment, the girl's eyes rolled up in her head, she fainted and began to fall...

...and a man in green clothing appeared from nowhere, catching her. He drew her up into his arms as black lightning danced around him. Once he was sure of her safety, the man raised his head and glared at Chad.

Chad had first seen the man in Augusta four days ago. He'd gotten a better look in his glimpse of Bethany's past minutes ago. Now, however, was the first time he'd gotten a good look at him in person. "Alexander," he said.

Alexander said nothing at first, instead stroking Bethany's hair and ignoring the presence of her opponent. Finally, however, he said, "I do love her. This isn't some cheap ploy to manipulate her emotions."

"I'm not questioning that," Chad said, crossing his arms. "But why did you draw her into this? What good would that do you?"

"It was better to have her among our forces than exposed to the Darkness Infection. Her family, neglectful as they are, would never let her leave town without an explanation, and they would never believe one that I gave them."

Nodding, Chad then blinked as an old memory came to him. It was frustratingly vague, but... "I remember seeing your face before your servants destroyed the bookstore... Where have I seen you before?" he asked.

The man in green shrugged. "I couldn't tell you." He turned towards the other end of the bridge at that point.

"Wait!" Chad yelled. "I have to ask you something..."

"You do realize that I am under no obligation to say a word, correct?" Alexander said without looking back.

"I know... but what is the point of all this? Why are you willing to destroy so much and kill so many people?"

With a groan, Alexander replied, "If you mean Jacob, that was not our intention. His destruction of downtown Minneapolis was never part of our plan - in fact, it actively subverted it. Killing people goes against all that we're trying to accomplish here."

"And what would that be?" Chad continued.

"I have no reason to tell you, and thus will not." That said, Alexander began to walk away.

"One more question..." Chad paused. "Why do you love Bethany?"

The man in green paused in his tracks, looking down to the unconscious woman in his arms. Finally, he sighed and said, "Would you believe I had a normal childhood? She, on the other hand, had so much pain and suffering in her life... and she was so much younger than I am... that I couldn't help being shocked at the contrast, and then trying to change it. Every time I made her smile, it was liking watching a flower bloom." He smiled, although Chad couldn't see it. "It became almost addictive. Every time I made her happy, it made me happy. Falling for her was the logical result."

_How on Earth is he with the Darkness?_ Chad wondered at that point. "I see..."

"And now, before you ask any more questions..." Dark energy crackled around Alexander's feet, and he and Bethany disappeared with a sharp crack, leaving a scorchmark on the bridge's surface.

Confused, Chad shook his head and walked back towards where he'd left the car, shaking his head.

**0000000**

Within the lairs of the Darkness, the one-eyed man with the Tarot deck shook his head, setting a card aside. "So much for the Five of Cups," he said to himself. "She who has lost much but retains some was not the calamity in the future of the Nine of Swords. He still has a way to go before any can stop him. A pity..."

Picking up the deck, he shuffled it, set it down, and said, "And what of the fourth Pillar, the Pillar of Death?" He reached for his deck and then paused, confused. "How strange... This is the first time I've ever felt nervous about drawing a card..."

Taking a deep breath, he turned over the card... and then drew back, shivering. "The Ace of Wands reversed," he whispered. "Ruin and torment... with a clouded joy within. Not only is he dangerous, he loves being so. Nothing good will come of him." The one-eyed man then smiled. "No wonder my masters fear him so."

**0000000**

Elsewhere in the lair, Alexander stood over a sleeping Bethany, tucked into a bed in a small room opposite his own. One hand lingered in the girl's hair, and the Dark Conduit smiled to himself.

The smile vanished as the voice of his partner in black crossed his hearing: "As I'd expected, she has failed."

"As much as I hope for our success, that wasn't really my concern tonight," Alexander replied. "My primary concern was that she would live through it. In that regard, tonight was a success."

"You and I seem to have very different definitions of the word," Degas said as he moved up to the bed. Touching two fingers to Bethany's head, regardless of his partner's wince, he turned to the man in green and pushed his sunglasses back up. "I see you've settled her problem."

Alexander nodded, his face a thundercloud. "Becoming a Pillar has its advantages. It turned Jean-Vic from a weak fool into a physically powerful one. It gave Menardi the beauty she dreamed of, even as it made her inhuman. And..." He paused, the dark expression giving way to a smile. "It cured the scarring on Bethany's womb. She can have children again... I gave her back her dream."

Clasping his hands behind his back, Degas narrowed his eyes. "The demon is still in combat. If he falls, we will have to awaken the Pillar of Death. I hope returning your beloved's dream to her was worth that price." He walked out without another word.

The thought made Alexander shudder, but he forced it back. For now, Bethany was at peace. He could ignore all the other repercussions as long as that was the case.

**MAIDEN IN LOVE**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 2/LIGHT/Fairy/400/800

Image: A cute little girl with a yellow dress and brown hair.

Effect: If this Monster is in face-up Attack Position, it cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. If this Monster is attacked by an opponent's Monster, place one "Maiden Counter" on the attacking Monster.

**CUPID'S KISS**

Type: Equip Magic Card

Image: A little winged cherub (the common image of Cupid) amid several hearts.

Effect: If the Monster equipped with this card attacks a Monster with a "Maiden Counter" on it and you take damage from the battle, gain control of the attacked Monster.

_Note: Both of the above cards were used by Blair in the GX episode "A Maiden in Love". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. It is unknown whether or not "Cupid's Kiss" can be used on monsters other than the Maiden; the Japanese text doesn't seem to specify._

**BLOWN KISS**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: The Maiden in Love blowing a kiss to a confused Ultimate Baseball Kid.

Effect: You may only play this card if you control a face-up "Maiden in Love". Place one "Maiden Counter" on a face-up Monster your opponent controls.

**TRUE FACE OF CHAOS**

Type: Continuous Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A bearded man in red robes, holding one to the sky; all around him, the landscape warps and contorts.

Effect: During your opponent's Standby Phase, roll one die.

1: Destroy this card, and your body is permanently and grotesquely mutated.

2: Your opponent must send the top card of their deck to their Graveyard.

3: Deal 1,000 points of Direct Damage to your opponent's Life Points.

4: Choose one card in your opponent's Graveyard and remove it from the game.

5: Choose and destroy one card on your opponent's field.

6: All cards other than this one are destroyed.

**ROLL OF FATE**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: Two female faces, one a warrior, one a mystic, staring out in opposite directions on either side of a single die.

Effect: Roll one die. Draw a number of cards equal to the number rolled, then remove that many cards off the top of your deck from the game.

_Note: This card was used by Joey in the original series episode "Down in Flames". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**RUKLAMBA THE SPIRIT KING**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 8/DARK/Fiend/1000/2000

Image: A large creature resembling a humanoid alligator with long black hair.

Effect: If you lose 1,000 Life Points or more from one attack, you can Special Summon this Monster from your hand. Offer this Monster as a Tribute to Special Summon Monsters from your hand whose Attack Scores add up to 2,000 or less.

_Note: This card was used by Gansley in the original series episode "Isolated in Cyber Space". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**TOTEM OF THE MERCIFUL LION**

Type: Continuous Magic Card/Heaven's Gift

Image: A totem pole, onto which is carved several pictures. The pictures tell a story of a Super War Lion, having found a wounded Axe Raider, sparing his life rather than feeding on him.

Effect: When a Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged-Beast Monster you control deals Battle Damage, you may choose to reduce the damage dealt by any amount up to the full total. If you do, you gain Life Points equal to the amount of damage reduced.

**UNHAPPY GIRL**

Image Effect: "Eternal Misery" - Negate all card effects that would result in an instant-win condition. If you would be dealt damage to your Life Points greater than your current Life Point total, negate the damage.

**GAZELLE THE KING OF MYTHICAL BEASTS**

Image Effect: "Gift of the Prey" - During your Standby Phase, increase your Life Points by an amount equal to 100 times the number of Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged-Beast Monsters you control and in your Graveyard.

_Coming next chapter: Degas and Alexander have feared something for the entire time we've known them, but now they have no choice but to turn to it. A force of pure darkness is on the loose, and one of the heroes will have to confront it head-on. Can they survive something even the forces of Darkness themselves fear? And even if they do survive, will there be anything left of them? You'll find out in Chapter Twenty-Three, "Hell's Own"._


	24. Hell's Own

**_Normally, Laura Vesnic would give a monologue. After all, she's the focus this time around. But she isn't in any state to do so. _**

She wishes she could, but it would require a chain of thought coherent enough to put words together, and she doesn't have it at the moment.

You see, she's battling against a lord of demons so evil and foul that even the Hand of Darkness and the Dark Conduit are scared of him. He's dragged her into the heart of his layer of the Abyss, and now Laura is fighting to survive.

Laura can't give a speech right now. She's too busy screaming to even think...

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Hell's Own**  
A dream so unspeakable that no intelligent creature had any business dreaming it caused Ulysses Cantrell to sit up in his bed, gasping. He could feel his heartbeat against his ribs, and sheer sweating had caused his pajamas to stick to him. With a groan, he slid off of his mattress, leaning against the wall.

_What in the name of the Light was that?_ he thought. _There are only a few beings in all of Creation that have enough power to cause feelings like that. And if one of them has broken free... This can't be happening._

Ulysses stepped over to his dresser, staggering as he went, and yanked open the sock drawer. Buried under a pile of his socks was a small cheesecloth bag, containing bones from a chicken. His son's family had eaten the chicken a month ago (he himself was a vegetarian) and given him the skeleton, which he'd cleaned and saved. Some of the bones were marked with potent runes, carved into their ends.

Taking a wooden bowl from atop the dresser, Ulysses sat on the floor, opened the bag, and dumped the bones into the bowl. He lowered his left hand into the bowl and began to stir the bones about, shutting his eyes as he concentrated. _I have three questions, _he thought as he stirred. _Who caused this feeling, why has it come to this world, and who brought it here?_

It soon felt right, and so he scooped the bones out of his bowl and tossed them with both hands, watching them fly through the air. They hit the floor, some of them bouncing, until finally all settled into place.

The elder Chosen of the Light studied the position of the scattered bones, matching them to what he'd seen as they flew... and then took in a sharp breath, standing up with such a start that he kicked the bowl away. He knew that name.

"Him?" he shouted aloud. "It _can't_ be him! Why would anyone dare to summon one of his kind to this world? The idea itself is lunacy!"

After a moment, the shock wore off, and Ulysses turned his thoughts back inwards. _The Light and the Darkness are at war on a scale not seen in centuries,_ he thought. _This could be... it could be the Reckoning! Wait... _He shook his head. _If that were the case, the Balance would be even more skewed than it is now. My signs have shown that the Reckoning isn't for another hundred years. This isn't that serious, but there is no doubt this is not an ordinary skirmish._

Gathering the bones, Ulysses dumped them back into the bag, his expression grim; after a reading like that, he would have to burn them. _If I read these right, the demon is making his move even as I stand here. Gerald... Chad... Laura... the Light save you all when he finds you._

**0000000**

By 9:15 P.M., Gerald and Laura had begun to think turning down Vivienne's suggestion to go to Live Arena was a very foolish thing to do.

Gerald was laying on one bed flipping through an issue of Duel Monsters America while Laura stretched out on the other, flipping through the different TV channels. Half of them were static - after all, most of the local TV channels were based in the Twin Cities, and their crew were among the Darkness Infected.

Flipping to the national standings, Gerald sighed, muttering, "I'm still Number Twenty-Three? I can't seem to advance... that was my rank last month, too."

"What are you looking at?" Laura asked.

"The list of the top 100 duelists in America. I reached Number Twenty-Three four months ago and it looks like I've stalled there. That puts me five spots behind Rebecca Hawkins and seven behind Stanley Mason."

"Who's he?"

Gerald answered, "One of the winners of the Monster Island Tournament... in other words, one of the people who slew the Shadow Queen. You'd think he'd be higher than Number Sixteen... Francesca Benedict's at Number Nineteen, and Andy Markova - the third of the Three Heroes - made it to Number Twelve before he stalled, too."

"Who's Number One?" Laura asked.

The lazy young man chuckled. "Take a guess."

"Demetrius Lark."

"Demetrius Lark," Gerald echoed. He then yawned, closed the magazine, and slid off the bed. "I think I'll take a walk."

Laura blinked, questioning, "At this hour?"

Moving to the room's windows, Gerald opened them, pointing out, "It's late June, Laura. The sun's barely gone down." And he was right - the sky still held the last vestiges of twilight. He continued, "Besides, it's a beautiful night tonight. Care to come with me?"

The redhead shook her head, still flipping through the TV channels. She landed on ESPN, which was in the middle of an strongman competition, and smiled. "Someone has to stay here in case Chad comes back," she said.

"Your choice." After a moment's pause, Gerald retrieved his Duel Disk and strapped it to his arm, muttering, "Just in case." And then he was gone.

By 10:30, Laura regretted refusing him. She was still trying to find something to watch now that her last program was over. The first channel she hit was Fuse, and the screen filled with a woman in an off-the-rack punk outfit announcing, "And coming up, we've got the first word from John Cameron on Acknowledgement's new album, My Suffering and Your Benefit..."

The next channel had an excited African-American man with an afro and a "TEXAS BRONCO" t-shirt. "The name is Andrei Ulmeyda," he began, "and I am the man with the plan. _People_ will come to _me_ for _salvation!_"

"Nutcase," Laura muttered as she clicked the remote.

On the next channel, they had highlights from the Duel Monsters Junior Internationals, the ten-and-under championships. _Oh, yeah, that was last week,_ Laura thought. _Walter's nephew was in that. Wonder how he did?_

To her disappointment, her future nephew-in-law wasn't listed among the finalists. A clip of the final match played, and - she groaned in disgust - the winner was playing a Cyber Dragon deck. Not just Cyber Dragons, but an entire deck based around them. She glanced to the name and noted it was Zane Truesdale.

"Well, now I know someone I never want to duel," she muttered as she changed channels.

The screen was perfectly blank. The TV was still on - she could see that from where she was sitting - but there was nothing on. In fact, the screen was even darker than if the TV were off.

Getting up from the bed, Laura set the remote down and moved up to the television set, mumbling, "What the hell...?" She then reached out and touched the screen...

...and the room erupted in an echo like ten thousand damned souls, causing her to fall backwards.

She didn't hit the bed as she fell, because the bed wasn't there. There was nothing there, and she landed on something that didn't seem to exist. For a terrible instant, she hung in nothing.

And then the world came into being again. Laura found herself on a pillow, which sat in the center of a large floor made of white stone. To her surprise, her Duel Disk had made the trip with her.

At the far end of the floor, a throne carved from a single block of obsidian rested on a raised dais of pure marble; the throne was currently unoccupied. Six jars flanked the throne, three on either side, each holding white fog within. The walls were made of the same material as the floor. All the light came from the windows on either wall, leaving much of the room shadowed.

Lifting herself off the pillow, Laura staggered up to one of the windows and glanced out of it. She could see what looked like a forest made entirely of giant ivory towers, sitting at the center of a city that dwarfed St. Paul for sheer mass. The sky was an odd color, shifting between ugly purples and reds, much like the color of a bruise.

"Okay," she said to herself, "someone yanked me out of the Twin Cities. Maybe it was the Pillar of Chaos?" She looked around. "Let's see if I can get out of here."

A moment's study revealed there was a door against the back wall, and so Laura headed for it... and then a snake head lunged out, barely missing her shoulder. She sprang back, whereupon the shadows pulled back. Two trees came into view, both looking like massive white beeches, but with snakes instead of branches. The trees hissed. Looking down, Laura saw that both were planted in the same pot.

A voice behind Laura said, "Those, my dear Miss Vesnic, are called viper trees. They're plants native to the Abyss, specifically to Azzagrat... my part of the Abyss. You won't be leaving so soon."

Despite having seen it in a thousand horror movies, and therefore knowing she wouldn't like the results, Laura slowly turned around to face the speaker.

A cultured man now occupied the throne, head resting on one hand. His skin was a polished ebony, nearly as dark as his throne, and his head was crowned with thick, dark hair. His eyes were a glowing green, and he smiled with yellow fangs. Both ears were pointed, and there were six fingers on either of his hands. The man was clad in black silk, with a steel breastplate and greaves over it. On his back he wore a wavy-bladed sword, a green sheen over the blade.

"I think I can assume you brought me here," Laura said. "So where am I and who are you?"

The man chuckled, sitting back in his throne. "This is the city of Zelatar, crown jewel of the three layers of the Abyss known as Azzagrat, and you are in the throne room of the Argent Palace, my personal home. As for me, I am the Dark Prince Graz'zt, son of Pale Night and future ruler of all demons and devils in Reality. The pleasure is all mine."

Laura raised an eyebrow, a low whistle escaping her despite herself. "A demon," she whispered. "Degas and Alexander control a _demon?_"

At that Graz'zt laughed louder, shaking his head. "Such naivity!" he replied. "No mortal controls me. Those two merely struck a pact with me - they gave me the souls of six willing servants, and in return I do them this service."

"What service?" the young woman asked, although she had a good idea of the answer.

The demon rose from his throne, drew his sword, and set one hand on the blade, concentrating. The blade glowed, and then the entire weapon transformed into a Duel Disk, one with a razor-sharp edge on its arm and a sickly green sheen around its entire surface. The deck slot resembled a six-fingered hand. "A Dark Duel, my dear Miss Vesnic," he replied. "I was contracted to battle both you and your friends in turn. What did you expect?"

Laura nodded, picking up her own Duel Disk and strapping it to her arm; her deck was already loaded. She then paused and slid the Master of Chains out of it, thinking, _He doesn't deserve to face you._ "Right... What's the stakes?"

"If you defeat me," Graz'zt said, "you set the punishment; I wouldn't want to cripple your ingenuity. But if I am victorious..." He grinned, those yellow fangs bared. "Part of the price I set for Degas and Alexander was that I be allowed to keep you, body and soul, for all eternity."

The young woman nearly dropped her disk as she adjusted the straps. "What did you just say?" she yelled.

With a sigh, the demon spoke again, slower and louder: "I... enslave... you. Now do you understand it, or will I have to resort to puppets?"

"How could they allow you to do something like that?" Laura demanded.

"Alexander was hesitant, I noticed... but demons don't make demands that they don't insist on having fulfilled." Graz'zt then turned to the rear of the room, calling, "Unhath! Reluhantis!"

A hissing noise rose up from the viper trees, although Laura was still too shocked to notice it. Eventually, from the shadows at the room's rear, two bizarre beings slithered forward, one of them holding a grey metal chest. These creatures had the bodies of beautiful women from the waist up, but the tails of snakes beneath. In addition, both had six arms.

"Surprised, my dear Miss Vesnic?" Graz'zt asked as he handed his Duel Disk to one of the other demons. On seeing Laura nod, he laughed, saying, "Unhath and Reluhantis are my finest servants; they're demons as well, known as mariliths. Excellent if you need a sadist to watch over your lair while you're away." He held out his arm, and Reluhantis strapped the Duel Disk to it. He then opened the chest Unhath was holding, took out a Duel Monsters deck, and slid it into the deck slot.

Shaking out of her shock, Laura thought, _Calm down... Every duel you've had since you dueled Ogre were duels you couldn't afford to lose. Just earlier today you took a direct attack from the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, remember? Try not to think about the consequences and fight as hard as you can!_ Her heart rate returned to normal, and she activated her Duel Disk.

As Graz'zt activated his own Duel Disk, he added, "Don't expect any of your friends to show up, Miss Vesnic. You are in the Abyss, after all. In order to bring you here, I had Unhath turn the entire hotel room into a single massive interdimensional portal. The room's door was sealed at the same time. In short, you're completely alone."

On hearing that, Laura began to sweat, but she shook it off. "I won't need them for this. I have all the motivation I need just looking at you."

Raising his hand, Graz'zt spread his fingers, and the too-familiar black lines of a Dark Duel drew themselves on the ground at their feet. "Whatever you say," he said. "Let our battle commence."

Both Life Point counters shot up to 8,000.

**0000000**

The Minneapolis Hilton - the entire building - glowed black as Graz'zt invoked his power, and a shockwave of pure darkness radiated through the Twin Cities. All beings attuned to sensing such things shuddered, no matter where they were.

Father Young saw the shockwave passing overhead as he picked his way through the rubble of downtown Minneapolis. He dropped to his knee and crossed himself, muttering, "I don't care what that darkness is, I don't care if it serves Degas and Alexander, and I don't care who's against it. Whoever's battling that darkness, may the Lord be with you..."

**0000000**

Having walked more than far enough, Gerald was taking his time coming back. There was a glorious breeze, and he was doing what he could to take it in. He happened to be looking up as the shockwave of darkness hit, and after it passed he nearly collapsed as his head began to throb.

Once the headache was gone, he stood back up, wondering what was going on. A nearby pay phone began to ring, and he tilted his head at it. Following common procedure for such an occurance, he walked inside, picked up the receiver and asked, "Hello?"

"Gerald Laxina?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Yes... what is it?"

There was a pause, and then the voice said, "I don't have time to introduce myself, but Lucifer and I are old friends. You need to get back to the Minneapolis Hilton as fast as you can. Laura's continued existence hinges on you and your Heaven's Gift. Run! _Now!_" The phone hang up.

Gerald hated to run. He considered it a betrayal of everything he stood for.

But once he hung up the receiver, he took off at a speed that would make the Olympics committee take notice.

**0000000**

"In the name of fairness," Graz'zt said as he drew his opening hand, "I will give you the first turn."

Laura slowly drew her own opening hand, and then added a sixth card to it. "In that case..." She studied her hand, thinking, _I can't afford to take any chances in this battle. The best opening move is one that assures my safety._ "I'll start with a monster in Defense Mode and a card facedown." The holograms came into being, and she gave her hand one last look before nodding. "That will be my turn."

Graz'zt drew another card, pausing for a moment as he weighed the options, and then took a card from his hand and set it into place. "I'll begin with this monster in Defense Mode," he said. Taking another card, he continued, "I will then start the pain with a Magic Card named Goblin Thief!"

A fat green-skinned man in expensive robes, the Goblin of Greed, emerged from the space between them, Pot of Greed tucked under one arm. He flicked a knife out from his robes, waddled up to Laura, and then slashed her across the arm with it before she could get out of the way. She gasped at the pain, watching as the goblin gathered some blood in a small glass. Waddling up to Graz'zt, the goblin offered him the glass; the demon accepted it and drank the blood without hesitating.

"This card takes 500 of your Life Points and gives them to me," Graz'zt explained. Confirming this, Laura's Life Points sank to 7,500 and Graz'zt's rose to 8,500.

_That was too real,_ Laura thought, staring at the cut on her arm as it stopped bleeding. _This is like Gerald's duel with Jacob - whatever happens to me really happens! But..._ "Wait a minute," she asked. "If I run out of Life Points, won't it kill me? How will you enslave me then?"

"You'll die," Graz'zt said, "but there are ways to patch you back together. Rest assured death will not mean you escape my service. Now, as I was about to say..." He slid two cards into his Duel Disk, saying, "I'll set these two cards facedown. Take your turn, Miss Vesnic."

Drawing her next card, Laura paused for a moment, studying the layout. _Two facedown cards... but if I don't attack, I could die from collateral damage before this duel's even over!_ "To begin with, I play the A. Forces, which will empower all my Warriors for every one on the field."

Laura's side of the field turned into a battleground, but at the moment, nothing was happening.

"Next, I summon the Goblin Attack Force in Attack Mode!" she declared.

A group of armored, hardhat-wearing goblins with clubs assembled on Laura's field, clubs at the ready. They pounded their weapons against their palms and waited for their order to strike. (2,300/0)

"Activate Bottomless Trap Hole," Graz'zt replied once the last goblin was in place. "This, I think you know, will remove your goblins from the game."

The pit appeared under them, and before any of the humanoids could flee, every last one of them plummeted to their doom with a series of shrieks.

Growling, Laura reached down and turned her facedown monster over. "I switch my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian into Attack Mode."

The elven swordsman rose to his feet. Taking his sheath from his side, he drew out the silver blade and brandished it before him, glaring at the demon. (1,400/1,200) A quiet trumpet sounded, and he took a deep breath. (1,400/1,200 - 1,600/1,200)

"He doesn't seem to like me," Graz'zt noted. "Ah, well..."

"Nobody likes you, and I'm about to prove it - Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his facedown monster!" Laura ordered.

Readying his blade, the swordsman turned the edge to his face and briefly shut his eyes. He then lowered the sword, charged forth, and sliced cleanly through Graz'zt's monster. The creature appeared, a short, stocky humanoid with light blue skin and a single massive eye on its chest. A thin line appeared on it, and it fell apart in two halves, gushing greenish blood as it fell. (650/500)

Laura briefly felt ill. _Great, _she thought, _this duel altered the holograms, too._ Her deck then began to glow green, and she turned to Graz'zt, asking, "What's going on here?"

"The monster you have slain is known as Hiro's Shadow Scout," Graz'zt replied, flexing the fingers on one hand. "Before you ask, I have no idea who Hiro was supposed to be. His scout, however, has a useful effect when turned face-up - you pick up the top three cards of your deck, and then I force you to discard all the Magic Cards among them. Anything left goes to your hand."

The top three cards of Laura's deck drew themselves at that point, floating to the center of the field. Their faces turned upright, and three images hovered above them - the pictures on Monster Reborn, Reinforcements of the Army, and the Fusion Sword Murasame Blade. All three turned black and disappeared.

_I could have used those Magic Cards,_ the young woman thought with more than a hint of annoyance. _Still, at least that confirms he's using fiends. Not a surprise, that._ "I end my turn," she said.

Without any ado, Graz'zt drew a card. He took two of them, setting one atop the Duel Disk and one inside it. "I set a monster in Defense Mode and a card facedown," he said as he did it, "and call that the end of my turn."

Laura reached for her deck, took her card in hand...

...and nearly ripped it as Graz'zt declared, "In response to your draw, I activate Drop Off, forcing you to discard what you've just drawn!"

Blinking, Laura glanced at her card - the Sasuke Samurai. _If he had more monsters like that Hiro's Shadow Scout, this could have really helped,_ she thought. _No wonder he wanted to get rid of it._ She slid it into her Graveyard, and then took another card from her hand, saying, "I summon Blade Knight in Attack Mode."

The heavily-armored warrior stepped onto the field, carrying one large sword over his shoulder. His armor shone an unusual color in the light of Azzagrat. (1,600/1,000) He turned and saluted the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and the elf saluted back, the camaraderie powering both of them. (1,600/1,000 - 2,000/1,000; 1,400/1,200 - 1,800/1,200)

"Blade Knight," Laura ordered, "attack Graz'zt's facedown monster!"

"In response, I activate A Feint Plan," Graz'zt replied. "This trap makes attacking a facedown monster impossible until after the turn ends."

As Graz'zt's trap took effect, a series of confusing roads and signs covered his side of the field. The Blade Knight stepped out onto them, looking from one sign to the next, and then to the next, which contradicted the first. He turned to Laura and shrugged before walking back onto her field, shaking his helmeted head.

"You like confusion, don't you?" Laura asked the demon.

Graz'zt grinned, yellow fangs glinting. "It's my way, my dear Miss Vesnic. I'm a demon of seduction and guile." He then snorted, adding, "I leave the brute tactics to idiots like Orcus."

_Not like I expected a demon to compliment the rest of his race,_ Laura thought as she said aloud, "I end my turn."

The demon drew his next card, and then turned it to Laura, saying, "I hope you don't think too ill of me. This is business, after all, and I can be kind if I wish to be. For example, I play Upstart Goblin, which grants you an extra thousand Life Points. Now we're even."

A goblin bearing a close resemblence to the Goblin of Greed stepped out of the card, rolling several coins between his fingers. He tossed them to Laura, and she caught them out of midair. The coins vanished, but then the cut on her arm healed and disappeared as her Life Points rose to 8,500.

The goblin then turned to Graz'zt, drew the top card off the demon's deck, and handed it over. "Why, thank you," the demon said as he tucked the card into his hand. "Almost forgot that part..." With that, the goblin vanished.

"Are you done being something more than pure evil? Because I'm not buying it," Laura muttered.

As he shook his head, Graz'zt said, "You try to be more than you are... Fine, then. I Flip Summon my Dark Jeroid."

For all intents and purposes, the monster started as a puddle of ooze. But then it began to rise up, forming a torso with a yellow orb at its heart. Two long, cruel arms pulled themselves from its side and shook off some of its material. Soon a body vaguely like a centaur's emerged from the puddle, with six spindly limbs underneath it... as well as a yellow-eyed head between the frontmost legs. The whole of the creature solidified. (1,200/1,500)

"When I summon, Special Summon, or Flip Summon Dark Jeroid," Graz'zt noted, "it reduces the Attack Score of one of your monsters by 800 for as long as it's out."

The Dark Jeroid now raised its arms and shot them across the field, slipping them through two seams in the Blade Knight's armor. The knight stiffened, raising his blade to cut through the limbs... but then they began to pulse, pumping a vile yellow liquid into the warrior. His arms fell limp, and the sword dropped from his hand as he collapsed, quivering helplessly. (2,000/1,000 - 1,200/1,000)

"Now," Graz'zt continued, "I offer my Dark Jeroid as a Tribute to summon forth the Lesser Fiend in Attack Mode!"

The ooze collapsed back into itself, and then evaporated. From the vapors emerged a snarling demon, with the head of a lion and a thin coat of yellow fur over its muscular frame. It wore a dark wrap around its waist and had four arms, which it flexed all at once. (2,100/1,000)

Laura shook her head. "You know, you've got a very odd taste in minions."

"I can't help it," the demon said with a mild snarl. "There aren't that many attractive female Fiends in this game, so I must make do with what there is. Lesser Fiend, attack the Blade Knight with Infernal Savagery!"

Cracking all twenty of its knuckles, the fiend leapt into the air, landing in front of the crippled warrior. Both lower arms grabbed his arms...

"Activate Negate Attack!" Laura shouted, turning over her facedown card.

An invisible barrier sprang into being, throwing the Lesser Fiend to the ground before it could do anything worse. It snarled, picking itself off of the ground and spitting at the barrier, before stalking back onto Graz'zt's field. The Blade Knight shuddered as he exhaled.

With the slighest of shrugs, Graz'zt said, "That will end my turn."

Laura drew, groaning at her draw. _Yeah, that'll be a big help..._ "I set a monster in Defense Mode," she said, "and switch my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Blade Knight into Defense as well." The Blade Knight collapsed onto his knees as the elven swordsman helped him down, kneeling as well. "And that's all I can do."

As Graz'zt drew, he scowled - his hand consisted of only two cards. His expression lightened as he saw what he now held, and he moved it into his Duel Disk. "I activate my Pot of Greed," he announced.

The laughing symbol of avarice appeared in front of Graz'zt, tilting towards him. Reaching in, the demon retrieved two shimmering coins, which he dropped onto his deck. Two cards sprang forward, and he picked them up, adding them to his hand.

_Never seen anyone_ do _something with the Pot of Greed before,_ Laura thought. _Mostly we just ignore it._

"Now I'll set a monster in Defense Mode," the demon continued. The hologram appeared next to his Lesser Fiend, which he then turned to. "Lesser Fiend, attack the Blade Knight again!"

Once again, the four-armed demon leapt skyward, landing before the Blade Knight. Its lower arms grabbed hold of his arms, as on the last try, but this time its upper arms grabbed hold of the warrior's head. Without any further ado, it pulled with both sets of limbs, cleanly ripping the Blade Knight's head off.

Laura gasped, and the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian slumped forward in shock. (1,800/1,200 - 1,600/1,200)

Throwing the head at Laura (who jumped out of the way), the Lesser Fiend licked its fingers clean of blood as the Blade Knight shattered. It then walked back onto Graz'zt's field, satisfied.

"As per the Lesser Fiend's effect, Blade Knight is now removed from the game. That will be my turn," Graz'zt said.

It was a moment before Laura regained enough composure to draw. She shook her head, hair fluttering about, and then looked at her card. Her eyes widened.

"I take it I'm going to lose my Lesser Fiend this turn?" Graz'zt asked. There weren't any hints of dismay in his voice.

Flashing a grin, Laura nodded and took a card from her hand. "I summon the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in Attack Mode!" she began.

The throne room of the Argent Palace grew darker for a moment, which she hadn't thought possible. The lights came back up a second later, and the white-clad ninja stood on her field, kunai in hand and ready for battle. (1,800/1,000) He turned and bowed to the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, who bowed back. (1,800/1,000 - 2,200/1,000; 1,800/1,200 - 2,000/1,200)

"Next," Laura continued, "I set a card facedown and switch Sasuke Samurai #2 into Attack Mode."

As the facedown card flashed into being, the super-deformed farmer rose to his feet, carrying a basket of weapons on his back. (200/300) His presence caused the other two warriors to let out a cry of encouragement, emboldening him, too. (2,200/1,000 - 2,400/1,000; 2,000/1,200 - 2,200/1,200; 200/300 - 800/300)

The young woman paused for a tactical consideration. _If I switch Obnoxious Celtic Guardian into Attack Mode,_ she thought, _I can smash his facedown monster and hit his Life Points with Sasuke Samurai #2. But then I'd have all my monsters in Attack Mode, and that has more drawbacks than advantages in this game. I'll just off his Lesser Fiend and save the facedown monster for next turn._

"In the time you're taking to move," the demon complained, "I could have won three battles in the Blood War. Just do something already!"

"Fine, fine," Laura replied. "Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, destroy the Lesser Fiend with Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The ninja put his hands in front of his face and concentrated, disappearing into thin air. There was a moment's pause, and then ten of them flashed in the space around the Lesser Fiend. At first, they didn't seem to do anything, but then the demon split on several different axis, pieces of it falling all over the floor before it shattered.

Graz'zt merely smirked as his Life Points sank to 8,200. "Anything else, my dear Laura?"

The redhead glared, saying, "One, since when were we on a first-name basis? And two, no. Your turn."

"Then I draw," Graz'zt said, doing so. He then reached to his disk, saying, "I'll flip my Dark Mimic Level 1 into Attack Mode."

The facedown monster on his field turned into a small black keepsake box. This box then opened, revealing a toothy maw and multiple small tentacles within. Two eyes opened on either side of its lock. (100/1,000) Crouching, Graz'zt reached into it, retrieving a card.

"Let me guess," Laura said, head shaking. "You draw a card when it's flipped?"

"Indeed," the demon replied. "I think I'll set my draw..." He did so, the card appearing on the ground before him. "...and set a monster in Defense Mode to go with it." Another card appeared in front of his set card. "Now, take your turn."

_He's playing a lot of Flip Effect Fiends,_ Laura thought. _Man, I_ really _wish I had my Sasuke Samurai now!_ She drew a card...

"In your Standby Phase," Graz'zt declared, "I activate my trap, Thunder of Ruler, cancelling your Battle Phase!" He then looked to her monsters, muttered a single word, and sneered.

All three of Laura's monsters collapsed in fear, shivering. She stared at them, saying, "For trained soldiers you guys get scared easily."

The demon chuckled. "Don't blame them - my power to create fear has a similar effect on all living creatures."

_Okay, he's reminding me of Menardi now, and that's not a good thing,_ Laura thought. "Since I can't attack, I'll switch my Sasuke Samurai #2 into Defense Mode, but for my next turn I'll switch Obnoxious Celtic Guardian back into Attack Mode."

The monsters, in essence, traded positions - the Sasuke Samurai knelt, guarding himself with the basket on his back, as the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian stood up and brandished his sword.

"And that's all I will do," Laura finished.

As the demon drew his next card, something unusual happened to the Dark Mimic Level 1 - it began to swell, its frame bulging outward as it warped and expanded.

For a moment, Laura was confused, but then she caught on. "I'm guessing your Dark Mimic just went up a level?" she asked.

"Two levels, actually," Graz'zt replied. "By offering my Dark Mimic Level 1 during my Standby Phase, I may summon my Dark Mimic Level 3 from my deck. And since I can choose, I'll bring it out in Defense Mode."

The transformation soon resolved, and the fiend now resembled a giant red treasure chest. Eyes appeared on either side of the lock, and the lid opened, revealing even more teeth and tentacles than were the case with its predescessor. (1,000/1,000)

As with the first Dark Mimic, Graz'zt reached into the monster, fishing about inside it. "When I summon the Dark Mimic Level 3," he explained, "I can draw a card. If it was summoned by the effect of the first one, however, I draw two cards instead." There was a brief pause, and then he drew his hand back, holding two cards in it.

An expression of disgust creeped across Laura's face as she asked, "Do I want to know where it was keeping those cards?"

"No, you do not. Trust me on this." The Demon Prince picked a card from his hand, slid it into his Duel Disk, and announced, "Since armies live and die on morale, I'll shatter yours by using my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy The A. Forces!"

A sharp gust of wind struck at Laura, blowing her hair about, and her monsters put their arms in front of their faces as the gale blew through the throne room. The wind snapped about, striking her Magic Card and shattering it to a hundred pieces. The warriors looked at each other, their faces falling as the camaderie it had induced faded, and their strength returned to normal.

Graz'zt went on, "You know, I spend so much time in this throne room anymore that it's starting to bore me. I think we need a change of field... so I'll play Terraforming."

A beam of blue light rose up in front of the demon, and he watched, hand on his chin, as views of a thousand different locations played out before him. Eventually, he reached out and touched the beam, saying, "That one."

The beam now touched his deck, and one card jutted out. He drew the card out and added it to his hand. "I'll just hang onto this for now," he continued. "Next, I set a card facedown and sacrifice my facedown Skull Knight #2 to summon the fairest Fiend of all..."

"There's such a thing as a fair Fiend in this game?" Laura asked, eyebrow raised.

Graz'zt nodded, noting, "One of the few in Duel Monsters... although her beauty's rather subjective. I summon the Lovely Fiend Marilith!"

For the briefest of moments, a skull-faced soldier could be seen, but then it vanished in a burst of fire. What emerged from the burst proved Graz'zt's claim as true: while most humans wouldn't be able to look past the snake tail, six arms, and general aura of wrongness around the fiend, she was more attractive than most of the Fiends in Duel Monsters. The new monster, in matter of fact, was a dead ringer for the ones that had brought Graz'zt his deck. (2,400/0)

"And when I sacrifice a Skull Knight #2 for a Fiend," Graz'zt said, "I can Special Summon one from my deck. I'll do so, in Defense Mode."

A dark cloud erupted next to the marilith, and another skull-faced soldier in full armor emerged. He carried a curved sword, and crouched down, glaring at Laura's warriors. They glared back at him. (1,000/1,200)

For a long moment, Graz'zt stared at Laura's field, and then he shook his head. "Best hold off the attack for now," he concluded. "It's your move."

_That was a lot of setup,_ Laura thought as she drew. _I'd better be ready for an onslaught next turn at this rate. _"I set a card facedown," she began, "and set a monster in Defense Mode." She paused, waiting for some sort of response.

A full minute passed, and then Graz'zt narrowed those glowing eyes as he said, "I'm immortal; you, my dear Laura, are not. If you're waiting for my facedown card to go off, I choose not to activate it yet. Do something!"

"Fine, fine," the redhead replied. "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his Dark Mimic with Silver Blade Slash!"

The elven swordsman slid one gauntleted hand along the edge of his sword, pulled it back, and then lunged, swinging the blade around as he reached the fiendish treasure chest. The blade cut through cleanly at the hinge, and the bisected fiend melted into a rancid pile of purple slime.

"Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke," Laura continued, "destroy the Skull Knight #2 with your effect - Windmill Shuriken!"

Taking a triangle of metal from inside his tunic, the ninja fanned it out into one gigantic throwing star. This he hurled, guiding it with his hand as it flew. It impacted with the fiendish skull-faced soldier, and the entire world turned black and white for a brief moment before the Skull Knight #2's head flew off of its neck. Its body dissolved into a stinking black ichor.

"Ugh..." Laura groaned. "Your monsters even die in disgusting ways. Either way, that's the end of my turn."

Graz'zt drew his next card, and then turned over his facedown card, saying, "I'll now reveal what I refused to activate last turn - my Final Attack Orders, which turns all face-up monsters to Attack Mode."

Laura gulped as her Sasuke Samurai #2 rose to his feet, thinking, _Okay, now I get it. He'd have lost a good deal of Life Points if he set that off last turn..._

"Next," the Demon Prince continued, "I play the Field Magic Card I searched for. I prefer to fight my battles in settings less intimate than my own throne room, so..." The field slot on his disk popped open, and he slid the card into it. "I move this battle to my Dark Arena!"

A dark metal ring descended overhead, shadows dancing on its edge. These shadows flowed down from it, pooling along the edges of the room... and then they solidified. The demon gestured at the surrounding shadows, and they took shape steadily, warping into stone walls. The ring itself changed, becoming stadium-style seats, and every seat filled with a demonic patron. In the end, the Dark Arena stood around them, reminding Laura of...

"A bullfight ring?" she said aloud. "Why do you have one of these?"

Graz'zt sighed in comfort as the arena finished forming. "We demons have simple tastes, my dear Laura," he said. "A favorite pastime is to pit slaves we no longer have use for against those of our number specially trained in fighting mortals - they call themselves 'mortal hunters'. The Dark Arena is patterned after the rings we use for such events. Perhaps, once I'm bored with you, you can experience the spectacle firsthand..."

Growling, Laura replied, "I know I'll die someday, but I will _not_ be slaughtered in a ring for your amusement!"

"We'll see." The demon then said, "In fact... we'll see now. I summon a mortal hunter known as the Picador Fiend in Attack Mode!"

A door opened at the far end of the Dark Arena, and a demon rode out on horseback. The mount was demonic itself, a vicious beast only superficially resembling a horse. Its rider wore bone armor, with a flowing purple cape, and one arm ended in two gnarled claws. (1,600/0)

"Now, to begin the show..." Graz'zt pointed to the sweating little warrior on Laura's field. "Lovely Fiend Marilith, dismember the Sasuke Samurai #2 with Demon's Blade Hex!"

Between heartbeats, the six-armed snake demoness produced six long, cruel swords from nowhere. She slithered forward, raising all six and preparing to impale the cowering farmer.

Laura slapped a button on her Duel Disk, announcing, "Activate Magic Cylinder!"

The blades failed to hit home - instead, the marilith struck a large gunbarrel. The force of the blow spun it around, aiming a glowing weapon at Graz'zt. The Demon Prince braced himself, just in time so that the resulting blast only pushed him back a step. His Life Points dropped to 6,800.

Up in the seats of the Dark Arena, the demons began to boo. _This is getting to be a lot like when I dueled Menardi,_ Laura thought. _The crowd's even biased for my opponent._

Shaking off the shock, Graz'zt dusted off his armor, muttering, "As if I didn't get enough of that from Demogorgon..." He then sighed. "Perhaps you should have saved that, my dear Laura. After all, this is the home arena of the Picador Fiend - while we are in the Dark Arena, he may perform a direct attack regardless of the state of your field!"

"Oh, crap!" Laura groaned.

"Picador Fiend, attack her directly with Smite Mortal!"

The demon gave a vicious grin and spurred his unholy mount, charging in a long sweep around Laura's field. He galloped to Laura, pushing the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to the ground as the elf tried to protect his player. Once in range, the Picador Fiend raised his two-clawed, gnarled hand, gathering a green ball of energy between them. He whipped it down, and Laura's body erupted in green fire.

The young woman could only scream as the infernal fire roared over her frame, eating at her flesh. _This is... this is what Gerald went through... how did he survive it?_ she thought as the fire burned itself out. When it was done, she slumped over, breathing hard... even though her Life Points only fell to 6,900.

"This is the true nature of a Dark Duel," Graz'zt mused as his monster galloped back to his field. "Even if you still have Life Points, you can die from the sheer pain of battle alone. It's your turn... do what you can."

As the last traces of the demon's fire died down, Laura checked herself over. Gerald's jacket was gone, consumed utterly by the fire, and her sweater was singed. One of her pantslegs was gone, as well, but her skin and hair was unmarred. _Of course,_ she thought with a bitter tone. _As far as the demon is concerned, my clothes are forfeit, but he wouldn't dare to touch the parts he wants to play with._

Muttering a curse, Laura drew her next card, thinking, _That Sasuke Samurai #2 is going to get me killed if I don't switch it to Defense, but I can't. Then again, I do have this. _"I play Book of Moon," she declared, "turning my Sasuke Samurai #2 to facedown Defense Mode."

The mysterious book floated in front of her little warrior, and the pages flipped, causing him to vanish and be replaced with a facedown hologram.

_Damn it,_ Graz'zt thought, gritting his fangs.

"And now I..." Before Laura could finish that, her Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke convulsed, his eyes wide. And then, even as he struggled against it, his hands went to his kunai, and he drew them out, preparing to attack. "What the hell is this?"

At that, the Demon Prince laughed, crossing his arms. "The Dark Arena has a very interesting effect on those standing in it, my dear Laura," he said. "They are forced to attack every turn if they're in Attack Mode! And unless you control a monster with 'Fiend' in its name - and I have two such monsters - your opponent chooses what they attack." He made a grandiose motion with one hand, pointing to his stronger monster. "I order Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke to attack my Lovely Fiend Marilith!"

Despite all of his efforts not to, the ninja staggered towards Graz'zt's Fiend, raising his kunai over his head. He fought the impulse with each step, sweat soaking through his tunic. A moment later, he was in range, and he made a clumsy swipe at the marilith. The female demon swatted his hand back, conjured up one of her swords, and slashed across the ninja's stomach, disemboweling him. Clutching his organs, Sasuke fell and shattered.

Fighting the urge to vomit as her Life Points lowered to 6,300, Laura said, "Activate trap, Option Hunter, which adds the Attack Points of my monster just destroyed in battle to my Life Points!"

As a beam of light surrounded Laura, raising her Life Points back to 8,100, she thought, _You were scum, Mi'hen, but this is a really good card to use. Thanks for the idea._

One of the jarred souls stirred, turning a light pink. She cocked an eyebrow at it.

Chuckling behind one of his hands, Graz'zt said, "That will avail you little... you see, the effect of Dark Arena applies to all monsters, every turn. So now it's the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's turn, even if he'll be lucky enough to survive it."

The same hypnotic trance fell upon the elven swordsman, even as he struggled against it. He crossed the arena floor, dragging his sword behind him, and approached the marilith. Raising his sword, the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian made a half-hearted swing at the fiend. She merely chuckled and decked him with one fist.

Laura's Life Points fell to 7,100, and she sighed. "I end my turn."

"And I'll begin mine," the Demon Prince said, passing his hand over his deck. Taking the top card in hand, he looked at it, comparing it with what he already held. His face twisted with a sour expression, and he set the card into his Duel Disk, muttering, "I play Blood War Stratagem."

The card shimmered into view, and then the Lovely Fiend Marilith slithered off of Graz'zt's field, settling into place directly in front of her master. She took several charts and scrolls out of nowhere, eagerly showing them to him while chattering away in a language Laura couldn't understand, although Graz'zt apparently could. Finally, she returned to the dueling field, and her master drew three cards from his deck, tucking them into his hand.

"What was that all about?" Laura asked a moment later.

"Blood War Stratagem can only be played when I have a Fiend-type monster in play," Graz'zt replied. "I then choose a Fiend on my field, and for every two Level Stars on the chosen monster, I draw one card. I can't draw more than four cards this way, however."

"Okay, that's well and good, but you got this look on your face when you played it..."

Holding the card up, Graz'zt sneered at it. "Look at the artwork," he said. The picture in question showed Dark Master Zorc and several Lesser Fiends conferring over a map. "I hate using anything that reminds me of other demon lords, but this card is useful enough that I just have to accept it."

_Taking offense to fictional demon lords... _Laura thought. _Man, that's a large ego even by demonic standards._

After a moment's thought, the Demon Prince tossed one of his latest draws onto the Duel Disk, declaring, "I summon Banderillo Fiend in Attack Mode!"

One of the demonic patrons in the Dark Arena overhead stood up, producing a snakelike demon from nowhere. He tossed it at Laura, who barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid its sharp head catching her foot. It slithered onto Graz'zt's field, curling up. (900/900)

"What's a banderillo?" the young woman asked, catching her breath.

"It's a short spear with several ribbons tied to it, stuck into bulls during human bullfights. As you may have guessed, when we play such games in the Dark Arena, we stick Banderillo Fiends into the prey." Graz'zt then gestured to the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian.

The Banderillo Fiend slithered forward, climbing up the elven swordsman's leg, and then tore through his armor with its pointed head. Ripping through his flesh, it climbed into his body, causing him to quiver as it did so. Blood dripped from the wound, the damage slowly escalating from a drip to a stream as he collapsed in overwhelming pain. Finally, the demon emerged from his back, covered in bits of his internal organs, and the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian shattered.

Despite what one would think, Laura didn't throw up at that point. She couldn't have if she wanted to, as the sight had left her in shock, just staring blankly.

Graz'zt took that opening to explain, "On the turn I summon the Banderillo Fiend, I can destroy any one of your monsters. However, it can't attack on the turn I conjure it up." The snakelike demon returned to his field, and he ordered, "Lovely Fiend Marilith, destroy her facedown Sasuke Samurai #2!"

For a second time, the six-armed demoness called forth her swords, sliding up to the facedown monster and thrusting all six weapons downward. The little farmer appeared for a brief moment, impaled on all six weapons, and then shattered.

"And now, Picador Fiend, attack her directly with another Mortal Smite!" Graz'zt said, unable to hide his grin.

This time, the mounted demon had no need to sidestep Laura's army. Instead, he rode up to the woman and held up his clawed hand, charging another blast of green fire. When the time was right he slammed it into her, covering her once more in the unnatural flames. As she burned, her shock wore off and she screamed again, her Life Points reduced to 5,500.

Overhead, the holographic audience of fiends (or were they holograms at all?) let out a roar of approval.

Graz'zt smirked, saying, "I set a card facedown," as he bowed to the audience above. As the card appeared, he concluded his turn with a wave of his hand.

The fires died out, and Laura assessed herself. Her sweater was now reduced to what amounted to a reversed vest (the torn section in the back had burned away), and her pants were no better than cutoffs. She looked down, and briefly thought, _Wow, I have nice legs..._ She then shook her head, scolding herself. _This isn't the time to think that!_

Graz'zt, meanwhile, thought to himself, _Arranging for the Dark Duel to do that to her was_ definitely _worth the effort._

Shaking out her hair, the young woman drew, not even looking at the small army of fiends across the Dark Arena floor from her. She then tucked a card into her disk and set one into a Monster Zone. "I set one card facedown and one monster in Defense Mode. Your turn, hellspawn."

"You're making insults again," Graz'zt noted as he drew. "You must have made a good move." He adjusted one of his cards before deciding. "I summon Winged Minion in Attack Mode."

A tiny demon flew out of the Dark Arena doorway, settling next to the Banderillo Fiend. It was the size of a human baby, with deep purple skin and tiny wings on its back. The Banderillo Fiend snarled at it, and the Winged Minion shuddered. (700/700)

_I know that card, _Laura thought. _He can sacrifice it to permanently add its Attack and Defense scores to those of another fiend. But... oh, this is going to be **disgusting**._ She gulped and steeled herself.

"From that expression, I see you can guess what's about to happen," the Demon Prince said. "I will now sacrifice the Winged Minion to the Banderillo Fiend in order to strength the latter by 700 Attack and Defense Points. Banderillo Fiend... eat up."

The long, lashing tail of the Banderillo Fiend wrapped around the body of the smaller demon, and it dragged the resisting monster in close. That pointed head rammed through the Winged Minion's stomach, and then... the unmistakable sound of chewing and swallowing filled the air.

Laura looked away; she'd made the mistake of looking into the Winged Minion's eyes as the process began. That look of shock and horror burned itself into her memory, and would never quite leave.

It was several minutes before the Banderillo Fiend was done. All that was left of its prey was a bleached, broken skeleton, the skull cracked and shattered.

As the bones faded away, the Banderillo Fiend reared up, its skin stretching. Two long, cruel claws pulled free from the fiend's body, and it sprouted a pair of wings from its back. Thus empowered, the Banderillo Fiend hissed. (900/900 - 1,600/1,600)

"You can look now," Graz'zt said to his opponent. She looked back at the field and shivered. Smiling at her distaste, the demon then noted, "I'm afraid that I'm as affected by Dark Arena as you are - I can choose what monsters my own monsters attack, but I must attack, regardless. Lovely Fiend Marilith, attack her facedown monster!"

Before the snake-bodied demoness could even retrieve her swords, Laura yelled, "I activate Draining Shield!"

The marilith called forth her six blades, dashed forward across the field, and swung them overhead, aiming for the facedown monster. A shield of energy surrounded both the targeted monster and Laura, with a metal circle at its center, and the swords struck the circle. Try as she might to escape, the demon was stuck fast, and she could only watch as a beam of green light covered Laura, raising her Life Points to 7,900.

As the light faded, the shield vanished, and the demoness banished her swords. She slithered back to Graz'zt's field, grumbling in an indecipherable language.

_I'm out of traps and he still has his Picador Fiend,_ Laura thought. _I just hope I still have clothes after that thing hits me._

Once his Lovely Fiend Marilith was firmly back on his field, Graz'zt swept one hand towards his Picador Fiend. "Picador, get rid of the benefit she just gained by striking her down with another Mortal Smite!"

The mounted demon's heels struck into the mount's flanks, and he charged towards her monster at a full gallop, his attack already charging. Before he even reached the facedown monster, however, he pulled back on the reins, flinging that green fire at Laura directly.

By this point, Laura was already used to the sting of the green flames overtaking her. It still hurt, however, and thus did she cry out as the flames burned into her flesh, dropping her Life Points to 6,300.

The smoke cleared, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Laura couldn't help blushing - her sweater and pants were gone entirely. She was now reduced to just her bra and panties, both of the plain white cotton variety. She didn't even have to look up to know Graz'zt's eyes were roaming her, and thus she hissed at him, "Fine... you're not content with killing me, you want to degrade me in the process, I get it. Enough already! You wouldn't be doing this if you were dueling Gerald or Chad!"

"Correct, but I care not." Graz'zt nodded to Banderillo Fiend. "Attack her facedown monster with Demonic Hunger."

Turning its sharp head towards Laura's field, the demon sprang out, opening a maw lined with particularly sharp teeth. It bit down... onto the edge of a sword; Laura's monster was a blonde female knight in bright red clothing, wielding a blazing weapon, and she glared at the ophidian fiend. (1,200/1,900)

The lady warrior, a Command Knight, slowly rose to her feet as a trumpet blasted somewhere in the distance. She shook her sword until the demon let go, and then delivered a vicious slash, cutting deep into the monster's side. It fled back to Graz'zt, who stepped on it and pinned it to the ground as his Life Points dropped to 6,400.

"My Command Knight wins that round," Laura explained, although it felt rather unnecessary to say so. "However, your Final Attack Orders switches her to Attack Mode after the fight. It doesn't stop her effect, which grants her 400 more Attack Points."

A fusillade of trumpets sounded off in the distance, and the Command Knight saluted, taking a stance of combat. (1,200/1,900 - 1,600/1,900)

The restrained nature Graz'zt had projected thus far fell through, and he snarled, fangs bared. "In that case, I'll play a Continuous Magic Card known as Altar of Mists," he said with another snarl.

The entire arena filled with fog, to the angry shouts of the crowd overhead. A shape began to form in the center of this concealing fog, forming in due time into the shape of a small altar. It was surprisingly clean and plain for an altar on the Abyss.

"What does it do?" Laura asked.

The demon answered, "In three turns, I can add any Ritual Magic Card to my hand from my deck. Until then, nothing can destroy this card... no matter which of us tries to do it. My effects are as useless as yours. That will be the end of my turn."

As Laura drew, the fog rolled away, and she couldn't help two unrelated responses: a snicker at how silly the altar looked in the center of the arena, and a shiver as the last traces of the fog touched her bare skin. _I should have worn more clothing... _she thought.

Taking her latest draw from her hand, Laura slid it into her Duel Disk, declaring, "I play Pot of Greed!"

The wicked urn appeared in front of her, chortling as it did so. To her surprise, it tipped over, spilling an endless stream of gold dust onto her deck. The deck shined, and two cards flew from it into her hand. She blinked, murmuring, "Um, thanks..."

There was a puff of smoke as the Pot of Greed vanished. Looking around, Laura said, "You know, the thought of ten thousand demons staring at me in my underwear makes me sick. I'm not letting this go on." She threw a card into her Duel Disk, declaring, "I activate my Heavy Storm!"

_Go right ahead,_ Graz'zt thought. _I'd had enough of this setup anyway. All this was just to pass time until I got my Altar of Mists out. I don't need the Dark Arena any longer, and you can't destroy the Altar..._

A sharp blast of wind crossed Laura's body, causing her to double over as she shivered. More winds blew through the throne room of the Argent Palace, so violent that they even shook the forgotten viper trees near the door. It was only a moment before a genuine hurricane broke out, ripping a massive hole in the wall of the Dark Arena. Chunks of stone whirled about their heads as the winds tore the Arena to pieces.

By the time the wind died, there was nothing left of the Dark Arena, and Graz'zt's Final Attack Orders and facedown Nightmare Wheel were gone as well. He merely shrugged; after all, his Altar of Mists hadn't even moved during the storm. "I should have had Unhath and Reluhantis barricade the windows," he muttered.

"Next," Laura said, not skipping a beat, "I summon Zombyra the Dark in Attack Mode!"

Even though it was fairly dark to begin with, the room darkened further. All around them, pictures flashed into being - the unnatural warrior known as Zombyra kneeling to Dark Master Zorc, him fighting against an army of angel-winged soldiers, Zombyra standing in shock over a broken and bloodied man, his rejection of Zorc, and finally him standing along on a war-torn plain. Finally, the lights came back up, and the dark hero himself emerged on Laura's side, cracking his knuckles. (2,100/500) The Command Knight patted his shoulder, and he nodded down to her, grinning. (2,100/500 - 2,500/500)

"Damned showy of you, Zombyra," Graz'zt said, sneering. "But then again, I have to respect it. It takes guts for a traitor to advertise his treachery, after all. I like that in him."

On hearing that, Zombyra pulled his fist back and punched a hole in the floor, his other fist clenched.

"Traitor, nothing," Laura said, her eyes narrow. "He just bought a clue. My next move, meanwhile, will be to equip Command Knight with the Axe of Despair."

The human-headed axe flashed into being in the Command Knight's hand, and she nearly dropped it in surprise. After a moment, she gulped and sheathed her sword, adjusting her grip on the weapon. (1,600/1,900 - 2,600/1,900)

Raising one hand, Laura noticed that one of her bra straps was beginning to slip. She adjusted it with her now-empty other hand, and then dropped her raised hand, shouting, "Zombyra, show Graz'zt your true colors - obliterate Lovely Fiend Marilith with Noble Fist!"

The dark hero sprang forward, fist crackling with blue energy as he rang forward. In a panic, the snake-bodied demoness conjured up her six swords and crossed them in front of herself to parry the attack... only to see Zombyra's fist shatter all six weapons and smash through her torso. A burst of energy severed her body at the waist, and she exploded in a ball of green flames.

Zombyra leapt back to the Command Knight's side, and then stumbled as dark energy flashed over his body. (2,500/500 - 2,300/500)

Graz'zt's Life Points dropped to 6,300, but that wasn't what made him react. His eyes widened, and he yelled, "Damn you, Zombyra! She was one of my finest servants! You can't raise a demon from the dead!"

"In that case, Command Knight, send Picador Fiend to his eternal sleep with Command Axe!" Laura ordered.

Even as Laura said that, the Picador Fiend spurred his horse, turning to flee the field. Cocking her axe, the Command Knight sighted it, and then flung the weapon end-over-end. It spiraled across the throne room and sliced through the Picador Fiend and his mount. Momentum kept them going even as the separate halves fell over with a splashing of green blood, and then they shattered.

Graz'zt gritted his teeth as his Life Points lowered to 5,300.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, Laura muttered, "That was for my clothes... I'll end my turn." Zombyra and the Command Knight saluted each other.

With a sullen look, Graz'zt snapped the top card off of his deck. He gave it a look, and then said, "Do you know what the punishment is for murder in the Abyss?"

"Is there one?" Laura asked, scratching her head.

"Actually, no, but I'm going to make one up." Graz'zt now held up a card depicting Dark Balter the Terrible ripping a white image of a man out from behind him. "The punishment for murder is obliteration, and now is my time to pass sentence on Zombyra. I play the Magic Card of Night known as **Soul Rip!**"

An inhuman hand emerged from the floor behind Zombyra. It dug its claws into the back of his head, and the dark hero struggled against it. The claws tightened, and suddenly the warrior ceased to struggle. His arms dropped before he stopped twitching... and then he stopped breathing.

The hand threw him aside, clutching a white orb in its palm. It crossed the floor to Graz'zt, who took the orb and grinned as he held it.

Laura's eyes went wide, and she whispered, "Is that..."

"Zombyra the Dark's soul," Graz'zt confirmed. "By eating it, I'll erase him from Reality and gain his combined original Attack and Defense points in Life Points. Goodbye, traitor." And he popped the orb into his mouth, swallowing it. His Life Points rose to 7,900.

In that moment, everything turned gray around Laura, and she fell to her knees, her heart slowing down.

**0000000**

Gerald crashed through the doors of the Minneapolis Hilton. He hadn't meant to; he was trying to push them open and dart through the doorways while they were clear. However, a sharp shock had erupted in him, and thus he collapsed on opening the second door.

"What just happened?" he said, pushing himself upright. "That feeling... I've felt it earlier today, but on a much greater scale. If I could remember when..."

His ascent stopped halfway, and Gerald's eyes widened. The sensation was the same as when Heaven's Sphere had fallen into the Bottomless Trap Hole, but dimmer and far away. A train of focused and rapid thought shot across his mind.

It all added up to one thing.

"Something just went very wrong for Laura," he said aloud. "In the name of the Light, let her be safe..."

He finished getting to his feet, caught his breath, and took off running again.

**0000000**

Part of Laura was missing. That was the only way she could describe how she felt at that moment; all she could bring herself to do was stare straight ahead, unwilling to move and unable to speak. Taking the direct hits from the Picador Fiend hadn't hurt this badly.

"Oh, lighten up," Graz'zt finally said, rolling his eyes. "Soul Rip prevents me from summoning monsters or attacking on the turn that it's played, so I will merely set a card facedown and switch the Banderillo Fiend into Defense Mode." The sinister fiend coiled itself again, resting its head on its body. "That will be all."

In the midst of her shock, something came to Laura's attention, and she managed to ask, "That was a Card of Night... why didn't it do anything else to you?"

"Because I'm a demon, Miss Vesnic." Those yellow fangs flashed again. "Cards of Night don't have dark costs when demons play them..."

Laura shut her eyes and took several deep breaths, gathering the missing part of herself. "Zombyra the Dark was the most important monster in this deck," she said, getting back to her feet. "You just consumed his soul... I swear I'll rip it out of your stomach!" She drew her card, throwing it onto her Duel Disk. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

The armored warrior descended from the sky, his armor sending up a mighty clamor as he landed. He clashed his arms together, glaring with glowing red eyes at Graz'zt. (1,800/1,600) The Command Knight held out her axe, and he tapped his arm against it in a show of solidarity. (1,800/1,600 - 2,200/1,600)

"Gearfried, strike down the Banderillo Fiend with Iron Edge!" Laura ordered.

Driving across, the knight swung his sharpened arms, cutting cleanly through the lithe demon. The Banderillo Fiend's body fell into three pieces, oozing green blood as they writhed for a moment before shattering.

_An opening!_ Laura thought. "Command Knight, attack directly with Command Axe!"

The warrior nodded, and then braced herself. She hefted the axe and whirled it about herself, building up momentum, before giving a loud cry of victory and throwing it as hard as she could. The axe hurtled across the throne room's floor and slashed into Graz'zt, its edge hacking a deep wound into his side. The Demon Prince's Life Points plunged to 5,300 again.

But even as the axe returned to its wielder, Graz'zt recovered his balance, the gaping wound in his side already beginning to heal. "It's hard to truly hurt a demon," he said as the injury rapidly disappeared. "Humans, on the other hand, are fragile. You will regret this blow once I return it."

"That requires you to actually do so, and I'm the one with monsters," Laura replied. "Your turn."

Graz'zt drew, scowling as he only held that card in his hand. He glanced to the forgotten Altar of Mists, which was beginning to glow as it neared critical mass. _I need merely hold out until the Altar is ready,_ he thought. "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," he then said.

As she drew, Laura glanced at the card, thinking, _I don't need this yet. Now, I could probably destroy that monster with Gearfried, but taking risks will likely kill me. _"Command Knight, attack the facedown monster," she commanded.

The axe went flying once again, and this time its target was quite unusual: a demon, to be sure, but a truly attractive female one. She gasped as the blade tore through her body, slicing off her wings, and then exploded in a ball of fire. (800/2,000)

Graz'zt's reaction confused Laura immensely - he began laughing. "Oh, I love seeing that!" he said, setting one hand on his leg. "I wish you could do that again!"

The redhead blinked and said, "Don't you like that monster or something?"

"For starters," Graz'zt replied as he regained his composure, "she was a devil, not a proper demon. Our two species hate each other - we've warred for longer than humanity has existed. Secondly, the monster's name was Glasya, Duchess of Desire. Pegasus designed her after a nightmare involving her namesake, the real Glasya." His face contorted in a sneer. "She's the daughter of Asmodeus, the most powerful devil in existence. I _hate_ that bastard, and it brings a spark of joy to me not only to control his daughter, but to watch her die!"

"Okay..." Laura shrugged, muttering, "I think that's crazy, but then I'm human. It's still my turn, so Gearfried, attack directly with Iron Edge."

Clanging his arms together, the Iron Knight charged into the fray, cutting deep into Graz'zt's armor with both his arms. The breastplate was rent and destroyed, and Graz'zt tossed it aside, his Life Points now at 3,100.

"Have you forgotten this is a Dark Duel?" the Demon Prince then asked.

Laura stumbled back, hitting the edge of the circle. "You mean... oh, _crap_!"

Graz'zt nodded. "Oh, indeed... **_Arise, my Image!_**"

Black smoke poured off of the demon's body, and it took form over his head. The resulting creation stepped down onto his shoulder, balancing there. It was a vicious figure, looking like a hairless, pale monkey with multiple sharp teeth, a glowing third eye in the center of its head, and vicious intelligence in its eyes. It flexed its long, thin fingers before it.

"This, my dear, is my Image, the Dark King of the Abyss," Graz'zt said as the process finished. "For now, it can do little, so finish your turn."

With a sigh, Laura said, "In that case, my turn's done." _And what a fitting Image that is_, she thought.

The Dark King of the Abyss drew the top card off of Graz'zt's deck, lowering it down to the demon. He examined it and then slid it into his Duel Disk, saying, "As little harm as your attacks are actually doing, they're starting to annoy me. So hands off! I activate Nightmare's Steelcage!"

A circle of fire erupted from the floor of the throne room, along the edges of the Dark Duel's circle. Several lines of flame shot over their heads, forming a crisscrossing design in the air. A second later, the flames died, leaving a black metal cage around them. Several spiked poles shot down from the cage's top, cutting the circle in half and separating the duelists.

"This cage, as you may know, prevents either of us from attacking until the end of your second turn after this one," Graz'zt noted. "Now I enter my End Phase... and that makes three turns for the Altar of Mists."

The Altar of Mists shone brightly, and then evaporated into thin air, leaving a single card behind. Stepping forward, Graz'zt knelt and held it up.

His chosen card had a black border.

_Oh dear God,_ Laura thought. _A Ritual Card of Night? Do I even want to know what that thing summons?_

"That's everything for me," Graz'zt said as he stepped back to his starting point. "Your turn."

Laura drew, set the card next to the other card in her hand, and then groaned. "This won't help... I pass." Above her, the steel bars of the Nightmare's Steelcage began to decay, a fleck of rust floating down.

The Demon Prince smirked, drawing his own card. "I play the Pot of Avarice," he said. "This allows me to first shuffle five monsters from my Graveyard into my deck, and then draw two new cards. Even the dead have their uses..."

Five transparent monsters floated up from the ground: the Winged Minion, the Lesser Fiend, the Banderillo Fiend, the Picador Fiend, and then Lovely Fiend Marilith. A gigantic, truly ridiculous pot appeared, and the five monsters floated into it. The pot then shattered, and two cards floated from Graz'zt's deck into his hand.

_There we are,_ he thought. _The true lord of this deck... I have him at last._ "I end my turn on that," he said.

As Laura drew, the cage around them began to decay rapidly. Rust ate through the junctions, and an entire bar broke free, swinging down before dropping and shattering on the floor.

"Okay... I set this monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," she said. As the facedown monster appeared, time finally overwhelmed the Nightmare's Steelcage, and it collapsed in on itself, falling to small, rusted-through pieces all around them.

Graz'zt reached for his deck, and then stopped, looking up to his Image. "Dark King of the Abyss," he said, "I call on your power. Draw forth another demon to serve me."

The vicious little fiend agreed, running one sharp finger up and down the side of the Demon Prince's deck. It then stopped, pulling one card forward, before grabbing it and tucking it into Graz'zt's hand.

"That would be your Image Effect, I take it," Laura said, arms crossed.

Nodding, Graz'zt replied, "The Dark King of the Abyss has as much power over demons as I do. I can forego drawing a card to, instead, search my deck for any Fiend-type monster I want and add that to my hand. And the card I chose was Ultimate Obidient Fiend."

Even though the situation was no less serious, Laura couldn't help a laugh at that point. "You actually play that worthless card?"

"No, foolish Laura," the demon replied, "I use it for Ritual bait. For now I invoke my Ritual Card of Night, **Sundering the Demon's Chains!**"

The young woman's laughs came to a sudden stop.

Graz'zt slid the card into his disk, and five black chains appeared before him, a flaming battleaxe on the ground nearby. He then said, "This ritual requires ten level stars of monsters as a sacrifice. The Ultimate Obidient Fiend fulfills it, so I discard him!" He slid the card into his Graveyard.

The gigantic, red-skinned demon now stood on the field. It lifted the battleaxe and swung it, shattering the first chain. Something off in the distance let out a roar. The Ultimate Obidient Fiend ignored this, breaking each chain in turn with single swings of the axe. As it did so, the roaring grew louder.

Finally, Laura yelled, "What's doing all that roaring?"

"The monster I'm calling forth," Graz'zt replied. "At the very beginning of creation, the unshaped reality created things of monstrous beauty and hideous imperfection. Among them was a creature that one could call the first demon. When the gods awoke, they joined hands to force him awake, chaining him up for all of eternity. But now I'm breaking those chains! This isn't just a Duel Monster card, Laura, I'm actually calling that demon to the Abyss!"

The Ultimate Obident Fiend broke the last chain, and it snapped away, slicing into Laura's side and knocking her down. A spiked chain with a claw at the end descended from nowhere, pulling the struggling fiend up and into the darkness. And then it appeared...

Its size was the first thing Laura saw as she laid on the floor, bleeding from her side. The being filled the throne room, even with the ceilings as high as they were, and was actually hunched. Its body was viciously bloated and surrounded by scaly "wings", and it had two long, spindly arms ending in filthy claws pressed close to its chest. There were no apparent legs. The being's head looked like that of a fish, with blue spines and beady blue eyes, and crooked fangs filled its maw. Chains wrapped around the body, four of them, with their ends hovering over the ground.

"This, Laura, is one of the first beings to ever exist," Graz'zt said, pride in his voice. "My Card of Night forged a pact with it, and now I've unleashed it on the world. Behold the _**Primal Demon Animus!**_"

Animus roared, and the building trembled. (4,000/3,000)

**0000000**

The sensation rushed over Ulysses Cantrell, Father Young, and another man in a distant country at the same time.

Ulysses couldn't handle it - as faint as the sensation was, it was darkness on a scale he hadn't felt in twenty years. He passed out, collapsing in his bedroom.

Father Young handled it better, but he still let out a gasp at the feeling. "This isn't right," he muttered, desperately crossing himself. "Such things can't cross into this reality... Lord forgive us, for we commit evil upon evil... and damn me for doing it in your name."

And in another country, where it was still daylight, an old man with frizzy white hair stopped midway down a busy street, all thoughts of his retirement forgotten. He shut his eyes, trying to work out what he'd just felt, and then he shuddered. "Two forces of Darkness beyond what this world have seen are at work in another world," he said to himself. "And unless their opponent can stop them, nothing will prevent their crossing into this one.

"A force of Light is approaching fast, but... I fear that even that may not be enough."

**0000000**

The elevator opened, and Gerald resumed running, even as he fought for breath. He jogged down the hall, soon reaching the room, and grabbed the doorknob.

A bubble of sheer force expanded, throwing his hand off the doorknob. He tried again and failed again. Finally, he struck the door, saying in a loud tone, "Laura?"

Setting his ear to the door, Gerald heard only incoherent screams. He began to sweat, slamming his fist on the door and repeating, "Laura?"

Another moment passed, and then he threw himself at the door. The door returned the blow, and he slammed into the floor, groaning. After making sure nothing was broken, he did it again.

**0000000**

Two minutes after Animus was summoned, Laura still couldn't bring herself to look at it. Finally, however, she lowered her arms from her eyes and asked, "Aren't you going to attack me?"

Graz'zt shook his head. "It takes such an effort of will to bring Primal Demon Animus into this world that I can't attack with it on the turn I summon it. For that reason, I must end my turn."

Laura exhaled and got back to her feet, drawing a card. "I switch both my monsters to Defense Mode," she said, "set a card facedown, and end my turn." As her monsters knelt, they huddled together, the Command Knight hiding her face against Gearfried the Iron Knight's armor.

The Argent Palace shook as Animus took in a deep breath, its eyes shining. Graz'zt drew, put the card into his hand, and then ordered, "Primal Demon Animus, unleash your Nightmare Chains and attack the Iron Knight!"

The unholy being extended those long, spindly arms, the four chains raising and drawing back. The ends exploded into sharp, four-pronged pincers, and one of them shot forward at Gearfried...

"Activate Negate Attack!" Laura shouted, hitting the button on her Duel Disk nearly hard enough to break it.

A transparent wall sprang to being as Animus's chain came forward. It passed into the wall, and then emerged behind Laura, clipping her arm and knocking her to the ground again. On hitting the ground, it threw chips of stone everywhere. With a frustrated roar, Animus withdrew its chain, arms crossed before it.

"Since I have no other choice, I end my turn," the demon muttered.

Laura drew, noting what she'd drawn. _It's one of the cards I got at Scry..._ She studied her hand and frowned. _I have nothing that can even slow that bastard down, so I'll have to take a gamble on this one._

"I summon Double Pinaska in Attack Mode!" she eventually declared.

Two machetes slammed into the ground, and then a very flamboyent man sprang down from the throne room's ceiling. He had Spanish features, slicked-back black hair, and a thin mustache. Grabbing the machetes off of the floor, he spun them in his hands, pointing one defiantly at the Primal Demon Animus. (1,500/1,500)

"Foolish Laura, I can kill that Spaniard without a second thought," the Demon Prince noted.

Shrugging, Laura said, "I'll end my turn, then. Go ahead and try."

Graz'zt drew, and then set a card on one of his Monster Zones. Insurance, he thought. "I'll set this monster in Defense Mode, and then... I accept your challenge. Primal Demon Animus, attack the Double Pinaska with Nightmare Chains!"

_Here we go!_ Laura thought. Aloud, she yelled, "Pinaska, I'm activating your ability now!" The machete-wielder nodded.

Raising up another of its chains, the primal creature howled, throwing the chain forward. The warrior clanged his blades together and stepped forward, crossing his weapons in front of him. The chain slammed headlong into the crossed blades, and then the Double Pinaska flashed, and his muscles seemed to expand...

And then, with one mighty shove, the warrior hurled Animus's chain back, smashing a hole in the roof of the Argent Palace as the chain hit the ceiling.

One of Graz'zt's six-fingered fists clenched as he snarled, "What in the name of Darkness was that?"

"Double Pinaska's ability," Laura replied. "Once per game, he can negate a single attack. No matter how potent that attack is, he can bring it to an end."

Those green eyes glowed as the demon muttered, "Your turn."

Drawing another card, Laura thought, _No! That's not what I need... I only have one chance left now._ "I set a card facedown and switch the Double Pinaska to Defense Mode." Content, the machete-wielder knelt down. "That's my turn."

"And as you enter your End Phase," Graz'zt replied, "I activate the Trap Card known as Coffin Seller. This will deal you 300 points of damage every time one of your monsters goes to the Graveyard."

The long-forgotten facedown card flipped up behind Primal Demon Animus, and an elaborate headstone appeared next to the demon.

"Now I draw," he continued. Looking at his draw, he slid it into his Duel Disk. "I'll set this card facedown, and then flip my Night Assailant into Attack Mode."

A short, furtive man in black robes that concealed his face stood up, wearing blades on either one of his wrists. (200/500)

"Oh, crap," Laura muttered. "Okay, which one of my monsters are you going to destroy?"

After a moment's thought, Graz'zt replied, "I hate order, so I'll bring an end to the life of your Command Knight..."

A cloud of smoke concealed the Night Assailant, and then he flashed into being in front of the Command Knight, driving both blades into her heart. She gasped, and then her eyes glazed over, and she slid backwards off the blades before shattering.

The elaborate headstone on Graz'zt's field crackled with purple energy, and a bolt of it shot into Laura's stomach, causing her to gasp as her Life Points fell to 6,000.

Holding out his hand, Graz'zt intoned, "Primal Demon Animus, nothing stands in your way now! Spill the blood of Gearfried the Iron Knight with your Nightmare Chains!"

For the third time, the primal creature held out its hands, and a chain rose before it. The chain launched forward, extending its prongs. But this time, the chain tore into the front of Gearfrield's armor, lifting him off the floor. Once inside his armor, the prongs closed, and the knight stiffened, blood dripping from the point of impact.

The chain then withdrew, its head stained red, and the Iron Knight fell and shattered. The headstone on Graz'zt's field sparked again, and another bolt of energy hit Laura, her Life Points dipping to 5,700.

As he laughed, Graz'zt noted, "Every time Animus destroys one of your monsters, it may attack again! So take your revenge on the Double Pinaska, Animus!"

Another chain wheeled around and launched forward, those wicked prongs shining in the light of the Abyss. This one's target was unarmored, and so nothing stopped the cruel points from digging into the Double Pinaska's flesh. They dug in, and he feebly tried to tug them out before collapsing and shattering.

The headstone flashed a third time, and Laura shook as a burst of energy hit home, sending her to 5,400 Life Points.

"Only one target left, Animus," Graz'zt said. "Whatever it is, it cannot stand up to your might. Bring it down with your Nightmare Chains!"

The third chain descended into view, and it launched out at the facedown monster on Laura's field. The card turned over, revealing it to be a little warrior armed with a naginata and dressed as a daimyo. (1,200/1,000)

_This is it..._ Laura thought. A coin appeared in her hand and she tossed it skyward, declaring, "When Sasuke Samurai #4 fights one of your monsters, I flip a coin, and if I call it right your monster is destroyed! Heads!"

The coin spun in midair even as the chain neared impact... and then the coin bounced off the chain, landing at the Sasuke Samurai #4's feet.

It was heads.

Spinning his weapon, the little feudal lord knocked the Nightmare Chain aside, leapt up, and hurled his naginata into the very heart of Animus...

...but another chain swung in front of it and shattered the weapon in mid-flight.

Laura blinked, asking, "How did that happen? Is your monster immue to destructive effects?"

Graz'zt shook his head, lifting his Duel Disk to reveal that the only monster on his field was now Night Assailant. "You have successfully destroyed Primal Demon Animus in game terms... but foolish Laura, you forgot something. Animus isn't just a monster, or even a Card of Night. It's an actual, living demon."

To confirm it, Animus let out a mighty roar, shaking all sixty-six pillars of the Argent Palace.

"And I was expecting a stunt like that," the Demon Prince continued, "so I kept this card in my hand. In my second Main Phase, I activate the Magic Card called Fulfillment of the Contract, bringing Primal Demon Animus back from my Graveyard for only 800 Life Points!"

Graz'zt's Life Points dropped to 2,300, and Animus brought its chains to bear again, roaring in victory.

"But that's it for my turn," he finished.

Laura drew, nearly dropping her card. She adjusted her brastraps again, and then slid a card into her Duel Disk, muttering, "I set this facedown... and end my turn..." She then shut her eyes.

Graz'zt drew, setting his card into his Duel Disk. "I play the Magic Card called Tribute to the Doomed. This lets me destroy one monster in play, and all I have to do is discard one card." He took the last card in his hand and slid it into his Graveyard, saying, "At this point, what use would I have for a Twin-Headed Wolf, anyway? Discarding it to destroy that Sasuke Samurai #4 seems a fair trade, don't you think?"

Funeral wrappings burst up from the ground, entangling the body of the Sasuke Samurai #4. The little warrior pulled against them, up to the point where a number of them grabbed his head and twisted it too far. There was a loud crack as his neck snapped, and then the wrappings dragged him underground.

Even as the headstone shot her with another burst, sending her Life Points to 5,100, Laura yelled, "I activate Scapegoats!"

Holding up his Duel Disk, Graz'zt tapped one button, replying, "In turn, I activate my Magic Drain. Unless you have a Magic Card to discard, you won't be getting any sacrifical lambs."

All that Laura held in her hand were two monsters. Her knees shook, and she whispered, "I can't."

The demon snapped his fingers, and Laura's card exploded into a thousand pieces. "Better, perhaps, that it failed," he said. "Had it succeeded, Animus merely would have had to tear its way through an army of goats to get to you. Remember its effect..."

_He's right,_ Laura thought, biting her lip. _That creature can attack again every time it kills a monster. Nothing would stop it from getting at me - which makes my facedown card useless, because it would just let it deal more damage!_

"Night Assailant," Graz'zt was saying, although Laura didn't pay attention, "attack our foolish Laura directly."

The cloaked assassin barreled forward and stabbed Laura in the thigh. She didn't feel it, nor register that her Life Points now read 4,900. Her eyes were focused entirely on the Primal Demon Animus.

As he prepared to give the order, Graz'zt noted where Laura was staring. He smiled as he said, "Feel honored. Aeons have passed since the last time it killed a living being. And you won't stay dead forever - you may spend eternity as my slave, but it's an eternity where you're not dead, at least, hmm?"

There was no response.

"I see talking to you at the moment is wasted breath." The demon sighed. "Primal Demon Animus, attack her directly with Nightmare Chain."

Animus howled, and one of its chains lowered into view, pointed at Laura. The arms gestured, and the head of that chain split open, exposing a smaller spike within it. A moment passed, and then the spike shot out.

It hit Laura at the base of her ribs, causing her to cry out as it smashed through her sternum. The spike then emerged out of her back, barely missing her spinal cord as it shattered the nearest vertebrae. On exiting, the spike opened up into a four-pointed grapple, whereupon the chain rewound.

Even though she fought it, tugging on the chain impaling her, the sheer momentum was too much, and Laura was reeled up into the original chain, barely missing its prongs. She struggled for breath, her extremities already going cold. Her Life Point counter clicking to 900 was a minor concern at best.

"I wouldn't suggest that," Graz'zt said as he watched her. "That chain is all that's keeping your lungs in one piece." He paused, and then sighed. "If you insist..."

The spike closed up and Animus flicked its chain, throwing its victim across the floor. She hit the ground with a crack and a splat; it took a few bounces before she settled, each one leaving a red mark on the floor.

When she finally settled, Laura tried to think. This proved impossible. The spike had left a clean hole through her body, starting under her breasts and ending out her back, and her lungs were shredded; breathing was nearly impossible. Her limbs began to twitch and her eyes locked straight ahead as shock set in. A pool of blood formed around her and spread at a disturbing rate.

"They say death, in the end, is painless," Graz'zt said as he watched the young woman die. "I couldn't tell you. I've seen thousands die, and caused most of them to, but having never died myself I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you is this - even if you don't die right now, this duel is over."

Laura couldn't even hear him.

**0000000**

Gerald sank to his knees in front of the hotel room door. He'd spent ten straight minutes hurling himself into it, and now he couldn't feel his shoulder. One hand was bleeding from his attempts to punch through the wood, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.

"Laura..." he whispered. Seconds before, he'd felt a sudden burst of pain, and then nothing. Whatever was happening to her, it was almost over now... and not in her favor.

A wave of disgust washed over him, and he reached for his discarded Duel Disk (he'd dropped it during his attempts on the door in order to avoid damaging it). He then roughly yanked his deck from its slot and fanned it, finding one card in particular - the white-bordered Heaven's Sphere. Tugging it out, he glared at it.

"What use _are _you?" he said, flicking the picture with his forefinger. "When I dueled my father, you were perfectly happy to attack him. But now Laura is in more danger than any of us have experienced since I dueled Jacob - a duel you did _nothing_ to help me with, I may add - and you just sit here. 'Heaven's Gift'... you're a heavenly white elephant. If the Light had anything to do with you, you'd be saving her life..."

He tossed the card over his shoulder, and it fluttered to the door - and then disappeared in a flash of light on touching it.

Scrambling to his feet, Gerald stared at the point of contact, and then looked to the door itself. "Maybe I spoke too soon?" he asked himself.

**0000000**

In a distant country, the old man with frizzy white hair had settled on a bench to collect his thoughts. He suddenly looked up, blinking a few times, and then smiled.

"The Light has arrived," he said. He exhaled, and then said, "E-everything will be all r-right now..."

**0000000**

"I end my turn," Graz'zt said, watching as Laura began to convulse. "And you have one minute to act before you forfeit your turn and the duel ends."

Needless to say, Laura didn't respond. She couldn't even hear him anymore.

And then the room began to grow lighter, as if the sun were rising. The Abyss didn't have a day/night cycle, and thus Graz'zt had no clue where the light was coming from. He looked around... and then saw that the Primal Demon Animus was beginning to inch back, fright on its hideous face. A hint of fear ran through Graz'zt.

The light grew brighter, and brighter still, and then Graz'zt shouted, "What is _this?_" as it became too bright to see...

**0000000**

**Follower of the Light!**

To Laura's shock, she could hear this. She sat up... and to her further shock, there was no longer a hole through her body. The cuts inflicted by the Primal Demon Animus's chains were gone as well. To her slight annoyance, however, she was still only in her underwear. The throne room of the Argent Palace was missing, replaced by a glowing white void.

**Follower of the Light, can you hear us?** the same voice asked.

"Yeah," Laura replied, shifting onto her knees. "But what am I hearing?"

A figure emerged from the void - a golden sphere, surrounded by lesser orbs. **Follower of the Light, the Chosen has asked us to aid you,** it said. **We shall do so, for you are a true warrior against the Darkness. You have worked hard to emerge from what you were, and now we shall aid your attempts to remain what you are!**

The redhead narrowed her eyes, saying, "Don't even start talking about my past, got it?"

**Our apologies.** Several of the lesser orbs gathered together and glowed brightly, and when the glow faded they were replaced by a dark-skinned man in yellow robes, carrying a crystal staff. At the staff's head was a ball, and inside the ball was a red circle containing a mysterious pattern.

"What's that?" Laura asked.

The man replied, "This is a sacred artifact. Every thousand years there is a battle between good and evil known as the Reckoning. Almost two thousand years ago, I, Obrimos, battled against a spawn of Chaos known only as Skorne. This is the Soul Savior, the weapon I used to bind and destroy Skorne himself."

Blinking, the young woman said, "Wow. Say... are you letting me borrow this?"

"In a way. The actual artifact no longer exists in physical form. But as powerful as it is, Animus made a mistake by allowing Graz'zt to make that Card of Night." Obrimos held out the staff. "I can lend you our power, a way to manifest the Soul Savior once more in the physical world. Do you accept?"

Less than a second passed before Laura nodded and said, "I do. Please..." She touched the staff. "...help me."

**Follower of the Light, we grant you our power!**

**0000000**

And then the light died down, and Laura stood upright before Graz'zt, her wounds banished. She snapped the top card off of her deck, which had begun to glow.

The demon rolled his eyes, even as the Primal Demon Animus regained its composure and bent forward, chains waving. "When will the Light learn not to meddle in the business of others?" he groaned.

"Never," Laura replied. "I play my own Pot of Avarice, by the way."

As the ridiculous jar descended, five of Laura's monsters appeared overhead - the Command Knight, Gearfried the Iron Knight, Sasuke Samurai #2, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke.

Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but five of the soul jars flashed, and then other spirits were standing with her monsters. Menardi, minus her cybernetic qualities, stood alongside the Command Knight; Jean-Vic Viper admired Gearfried; Fuu, blushing, sat next to the Sasuke Samurai #2; Mi'Hen glared daggers at the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian; and a tall, bandaged man who had to be Sentinel was in place beside the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke.

"I'm guessing Ogre wants nothing to do with me?" Laura asked. Sentinel's spirit shrugged, and then the monsters and their counterparts vanished before the jar shattered. Two cards, one of which was glowing, floated into Laura's hand.

"Next," she continued, "I activate Call of the Haunted, bringing back a monster I kept in my Graveyard. Even if you ate his soul, you can't keep him gone. Return, Zombyra the Dark!"

Several tombstones appeared on Laura's field, and the floor erupted as a bone-covered fist smashed its way up through it. The fist was followed by its owner, and Zombyra the Dark now stood on Laura's field, glaring at Graz'zt. (2,100/500)

"It will take ages to fix that floor," the demon groaned.

"Keep your mind on what's happening right now," Laura said, holding up her next card. "I call forth my strongest monster by playing a Ritual Magic Card of my own - the Black Luster Ritual!"

A black altar rose from the ground in front of Laura. Over it hung a shield and two crossed swords, and two braziers sat on either side of it. Zombyra took his place on one.

"By offering Zombyra the Dark and Gearfried the Iron Knight from my hand," Laura said, "I can summon the Black Luster Soldier to the field. I'll lose 600 Life Points to your Coffin Seller, but since I still have Life Points, it's moot!"

The other brazier was now occupied by Gearfried, and he solemnly nodded to Zombyra. The two braziers lit, and fire consumed them both

As the fire died down, the figure in black armor strode out from behind the altar. He claimed his shield and sword from over the altar, and then stepped onto Laura's field, flexing his arms. Those cold blue eyes met Animus's, and neither looked away. (3,000/2,500)

Putting his six-fingered hand to his mouth, Graz'zt chuckled. "I congratulate you on breaking his curse," the demon said, "but what can he do?"

"He could win the duel by killing your Night Assailant, for one," Laura said. As the demon gasped, she grinned, continuing, "But since I have the chance, I'll win the duel and rid reality of Animus at the same time. I play a Heaven's Gift!"

_Damn the Light!_ Graz'zt thought as he saw the white-bordered card. _There's no way she had Pot of Avarice, the Black Luster Ritual,_ and _a Heaven's Gift on top of her deck, and she was going to die before drawing them anyway! And people say the Darkness is unfair..._

"I equip the Black Luster Soldier with _**Holy Weapon Soul Savior**_!" Laura finished.

A circle of light appeared in the center of the Dark Duel's circle, and the crystal staff rose from it, shining with its own light. Just seeing it made Graz'zt sweat and Animus moan with what could only be fear. The Black Luster Soldier took it in hand, and a smile crossed his face.

Noting Graz'zt's reaction, Laura said, "I see you know it."

"That... that's the weapon that destroyed Skorne," the demon replied. "How could the Light do this to us?"

With a shrug, the young woman replied, "You brought out a Card of Night as powerful as Animus, you left the opening yourself. Now... In essence, the Holy Weapon Soul Savior turns the monster equipped with it into a Mirage Knight. They gain the Attack Points of whatever monster they attack, but they're removed from the game afterward." Despite every instinct, Laura yawned as she concluded, "It's a good thing I only need one attack."

The Black Luster Soldier shut his eyes, and his armor slowly turned from black to gold as he tightened his grip on the Soul Savior. Graz'zt took a step back, running into his throne, and the Primal Demon Animus drew its chains back.

"Black Luster... no... Gold Luster Soldier," Laura said, "slay the Primal Demon Animus with Blade of Holy Might!"

Twirling the Soul Savior in his hands, the newly-christened Gold Luster Soldier pointed it at Animus. The symbol within it flashed, and then an identical symbol drew itself around the primal being; try as it might, the massive demon couldn't even move anymore. No longer needing it, the soldier set down the Soul Savior, picking up his sword again. (3,000/2,500 - 7,000/2,500)

The soldier now walked up to Animus, hefted his sword, leapt in the air and sliced down through the demon, his blade leaving a glowing trail. He then sprang back before diving forward, slashing through the bloated body.

For a moment, Graz'zt couldn't see anything wrong with the Primal Demon Animus. But then the light intensified, and parts of Animus began to bulge, as if something were trying to get out. The skin broke, and a beam of light shined out. More light burst into view along the lines of the Gold Luster Soldier's strikes, and it shone from the demon's mouth. Animus let out a scream...

...and then exploded into a thousand pieces, knocking Graz'zt back into his throne. His Life Points dove to zero.

There was a click as Laura's Duel Disk shut off, but Soul Savior sat on the floor at her feet. She knelt, picked it up, and jabbed its end into the floor.

All six of the soul jars surrounding Graz'zt began to crack, even as the circle of the Dark Duel faded away. The cracks spread, and then there was a small tinkling noise as the jars burst into tiny pieces of glass, swept away by an errant breeze.

Freed from their confinement, four of the balls of light disappeared, returning to their bodies. Two of them hovered, and then flew out the window.

"Where are they going?" Laura asked as she watched them leave.

One of Graz'zt's hands halfheartedly rose as he replied, "Their bodies are dead, unlike the other four, so the souls go wherever they were supposed to go. How should I know? I merely collect souls, I don't judge them..." He then looked up, those glowing eyes faded. "You could have just defeated me... But no. You had to destroy one of the most powerful symbols of demonic will that ever existed. Animus was tied to this game by my Card of Night. When you killed it, you killed it for good..." The demon chuckled despite himself. "You bear less mercy than I do."

Laura ignored the comment, stalking forward with the Soul Savior still in her hand. Unbidden, her Image rose up behind her, Kanan the Swordmistress drawing her sword as she stalked along with her host.

"What are you going to do?" Graz'zt now said with a snort. "You may have won the Dark Duel, but I'm still a demon. You can't do anything of lasting harm to me in a Dark Duel; the Darkness protects its own. Even that Soul Savior can't kill me; it's not a real weapon, just an illusion of one..."

Raising the Soul Savior and turning the staff's point towards the demon, Kanan raising her blade, the young woman replied, "I wasn't planning on killing you, anyway."

She then drove the staff down, impaling Graz'zt under the ribcage as Kanan's sword impaled his spirit. "This is what I choose!" she shouted. "You will be impaled like this until a Chosen of the Light draws this weapon from you - until that time, you will be frozen, unable to move or think, and no other demon shall even be able to approach you! Let's see how you like being run through!"

The demon's eyes widened, and he grabbed the Soul Savior, tugging on it. "Damn you!" he cried. "This isn't right! This is the sort of thing that happens to archdevils! You little-"

A circle of light burst around Graz'zt, cutting off his complaints and screams, and the Soul Savior grew to an intense glare. When it all calmed down, the circle still surrounded the demon, although it shone far less brightly. Graz'zt stared blankly into space, one hand still around the staff in his chest, no signs indicating there was still life in his body.

After taking a moment to observe her handiwork, Laura asked, "Can I get out of here now?"

Unseen by her, a spirit faded into being behind the young woman. It was a tall man with dark skin, dressed in yellow sorcerer's robes. He smiled, moved his hands before him, and silently chanted...

**0000000**

And then she was back in the room at the Minneapolis Hilton, standing between the bed and the television, her Duel Disk on her arm. The TV was still on, and from the looks of it, Chief Morimoto had run into trouble with one of his soups. She turned it off and looked down, noting she was still just in her underwear.

Something slammed into the door, and she recoiled, fearing one of Graz'zt's minions had slipped through. Inching to the door, she checked the knob, and then pulled it open, ready to spring back.

Gerald nearly fell on her, having apparently leaned on the door. He took a step back, almost blushing as he looked at her. "Oh... Laura..." He then did something she never thought he could have done - he grabbed her shoulders, looked into her eyes, and cried out, "You're alive!"

Instinct, relief, and what was left of the young woman's fear overwhelmed her. She returned the cry with one of her own: "Gerald!" Digging both hands into his collar, she yanked him into the room, slammed the door shut with her foot, and kissed him.

Even though he was afraid she might slug him at any minute, Gerald had to admit it was a pleasant surprise. His arms wrapped around her, and he kissed Laura in return, keeping her close.

The kiss broke, and she looked up at him through half-fogged eyes. "I... I'm so tired..." she murmured, and then she fell limp in his arms. A moment later, she gently snored.

It proved easy for him to carry her to the bed, since she was a great deal smaller and lighter than he was, and so Gerald tucked her into it, unhooking the Duel Disk from her arm. One card was still stuck in it, and he tugged it out, eyebrow raised. _Holy Weapon Soul Savior?_ he thought. _Is this what Heaven's Sphere is in her hands?_

The card then turned blank, and a second later, he was holding his own Heaven's Sphere again. Still confused, Gerald tucked the card back into his own deck (back in its protector, itself back in his pocket) and headed for the couch...

...until he heard whimpering. The lazy young man looked over his shoulder and saw Laura, reaching out and making the noise.

"What happened?" he queried, not expecting an answer. He then untucked the sheets and slid in next to her, setting her Duel Disk on the floor next to the bed. As he got within range, Laura slid her arms around him and cuddled in, still asleep.

One of Gerald's arms slid around her, and he returned the cuddle, soon falling asleep himself.

**0000000**

Ulysses awoke on the floor of his bedroom, getting back to his feet. He fell over onto his bed, breathing hard, and wiped off his forehead. "It's over now... blessed be that." The older one-time Chosen took a deep breath, shaking on the exhale. "It wasn't the Reckoning, but damned if it didn't feel like it." And soon he was asleep once more.

Across the city, in Lucifer's home, the phone began to ring, and the Beloved of Fire stepped out of his bedroom, grabbing it off the kitchen counter on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

In a pay phone elsewhere in the world, the frizzy-haired old man asked, "Is it over?"

"Yes," Lucifer said without even asking what. "Ze demon is defeated, and Laura has emerged victorious."

The old man sighed, saying, "Good... I was worried when the battle faded away. I'm too old for this..."

"You're retired now, old friend. Zis matter is outside your sphere."

"I know, but old habits and all that." He sighed. "I merely wished to confirm the situation. That girl, Laura... she reminds me of Franscesca in many ways, but with a wilder heart and less patience. Both of them practically embody the virtue of Fortitude."

"I noticed zat myself," Lucifer replied. "Of course, zeir cardinal vices are different - Laura is Wrath on two legs, while from how you described her, Franscesca seemed to suffer more from Pride."

"Perhaps... I'd best let you sleep. Good evening, Lucifer."

"Good night, Maitre Merlee." Hanging up the phone, Lucifer let himself smile. Immortals rarely make long-term friends, but there was still a soft spot in his heart for Merlee. _We should meet again sometime,_ he thought. _He isn't immortal anymore, and we haven't met for casual purposes in... a hundred years or so._

**0000000**

For Degas and Alexander, the realization of Graz'zt's defeat was like the fall of a guillotine. After a moment's pause, so that Alexander could make sure Bethany was safely in bed, the two began the long, foot-dragging walk through the doorways and into the pillar room.

Three of the pillars were broken and shattered, laying in pieces on the room's floor. Only one still stood: the westernmost one, on the side where the sun set. The man in green and the man in black stared at it, and then Alexander asked one last time, "Must we?"

"The demon is gone," Degas replied, pushing his sunglasses back up. "Your girlfriend lost. Jean-Vic and Menardi are probably cowering in a spiderhole somewhere in the West Side. None of the Darkness Infected could do a damned thing, whether or not we gave them part of the Dancing Mad. The specialists all failed. We don't have any more choices."

Nodding, Alexander swallowed hard and said, "But... the Pillar of Death? Can we trust he won't turn on us the instant we wake him up?"

"He has reasons not to, but even if that wasn't the case, it's a risk we must take. Now be quiet. I have to break the lock." Taking the orb that he called the Dancing Mad from one pocket, Degas set it against the pillar, revealing a spiderweb of energy lines on the surface. He then pushed, and the orb sank into place. "Open, seal against the Darkness, and let free that trapped within," he chanted.

The lines withdrew, and the pillar stood unencumbered. Taking deep breaths, Degas and Alexander set their hands on it and concentrated, Hand of Darkness and Dark Conduit together.

A moment later, they turned and left. "How long will it take?" Alexander asked as they stepped through the door.

"It will be done by daybreak," Degas replied.

"Not nearly long enough..."

A chip fell off of the Pillar of Death as the door shut behind them.

**DARK ARENA**

Type: Field Magic Card

Image: A gigantic, shadowy arena.

Effect: While this card is on the field, both players must attack with all monsters they have in Attack Mode during each of their Battle Phases. If you do not control a monster with "Fiend" in its name, your opponent chooses the target of each attack.

**PICADOR FIEND**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 4/DARK/Warrior/1600/0

Image: A demonic horseman riding on an equally demonic mount, holding the reins with one hand.

Effect: If "Dark Arena" is in play, this monster may attack your opponent's Life Points directly.

**BANDERILLO FIEND**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 3/DARK/Warrior/900/900

Image: A long, snakelike demon, with a cruelly-spiked head.

Effect: When this monster is Summoned (including Special Summon), destrony one monster on the field, regardless of position. This monster cannot attack the turn it was summoned.

_Note: The above three cards were used by Titan in the GX episode "A Reason to Win". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. The Defense Points listed for the above monsters are an assumption; the real DEF was not shown._

**ALTAR OF MISTS**

Type: Continuous Magic Card

Image: An altar in the middle of a misty field.

Effect: On the third End Phase after this card is played, destroy it and add one Ritual Magic Card from your deck to your hand. Your deck is then shuffled. This card cannot be destroyed by any card effect other than its own.

_Note: This card was used by the Big Five in the original series episode "Merger of the Big Five, Part 2". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**LOVELY FIEND MARILITH**

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 6/DARK/Fiend/2400/0

Image: A creature with the body of a beautiful, six-armed woman above the waist and a snake's tail below, carrying six swords.

Flavor Text: Despite her beauty, this monster is among the cruelest, most wicked fiends in all of the dark realms.

**BLOOD WAR STRATAGEM**

Type: Normal Magic Card

Image: Dark Master Zorc and several Lesser Fiends discussing strategy over a map.

Effect: You may only activate this card when you control a face-up Fiend-type monster. Choose one Fiend-type monster on your field and draw one card for every two Level Stars of the chosen monster. You may not draw more than four cards by this effect.

**SOUL RIP**

Type: Normal Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: Dark Balter the Terrible ripping a man's soul out of his body.

Effect: You may only play this card on Main Phase 1 and before you summon a monster. Destroy one face-up monster on your opponent's field and increase your Life Points by the combined original ATK and DEF of the destroyed monster. On the turn you play this card, you must skip your Battle Phase, and you may not summon or Set any monsters (including Special Summon). If the monster has a connection to your opponent's soul, this effect damages their spirit as well.

**GLASYA, DUCHESS OF DESIRE**

Type: Normal Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 4/DARK/Fiend/800/2000

Image: A beautiful woman with bat wings, small horns and a forked tail, in a skimpy leather outfit.

Flavor Text: This attractive female noble of Pandemonium delights in seducing mortals and consuming their souls.

_Note: This card was first played by Peter in Brian Corvello's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: The Mandate of Heaven". All creative credit goes to him._

**DOUBLE PINASKA**

Type: Effect Monster Card

Statistics: Lv. 4/DARK/Warrior/1500/1500

Image: A Spanish highwayman in flamboyment garb, smiling and wielding twin machetes.

Effect: Once per duel, if this monster is face-up on your field, you may negate an opponent's attack.

_Note: This card first appeared in Brian Corvello's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Legacy of the Duelist". All creative credit goes to him._

**SUNDERING THE DEMON'S CHAINS**

Type: Ritual Magic Card/Card of Night

Image: A demon with a flaming battleaxe breaking several black chains; in the background, the chains lead to a hideous, shadowed figure.

Effect: This card is used to Ritual Summon "Primal Demon Animus". In addition, you must also offer monsters whose total Level Stars equal 10 as a Tribute from your hand or the field.

**PRIMAL DEMON ANIMUS**

Type: Ritual Monster/Card of Night

Statistics: Lv. 10/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect/4000/3500

Image: A collossal demon, with a bloated body, long arms ending in cruel claws, and a fishlike head; it wears giant, crudely stitched skins and is wrapped in chains, four of which rise up around it.

Effect: This monster can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Magic Card, "Sundering the Demon's Chains". In addition, you must also offer monsters whose total Level Stars equal 10 as a Tribute from your hand or the field. If this monster destroys a monster your opponent controls in battle, it may attack again this turn.

**HOLY WEAPON SOUL SAVIOR**

Type: Equip Magic Card/Heaven's Gift

Image: A shining crystal staff with an odd red symbol floating within it.

Effect: The equipping monster's Attribute becomes LIGHT if it is not already. When the equipping monster attacks, increases its ATK by the original ATK score of the targeted monster. Remove the equipping monster and this card from the game at the end of the Battle Phase in which the equipping monster attacked. This card ceases to exist if it leaves your control or you are unconscious.

**DARK KING OF THE ABYSS**

Image Effect: "Call to the Abyssal Horde" - Instead of drawing a card during your Draw Phase, you may instead search your deck for a Fiend-type monster and add it to your hand. Your deck is then shuffled.

_Coming next chapter: It's early in the morning, and Sol Kilkarn's quest for atonement has led him to a priest. Unfortunately, the priest is Father Young, who has orders to defeat Sol and return him to the fold of the Darkness. Sol has adjusted his deck, and now it contains the power of artificial life... but what good will it do against the might of the Heavens themselves? Before the sun rises, Father Young's reasons for his hypocrisy will be revealed... I call it Chapter Twenty-Four, "In the Name", and it's coming up next._


	25. In the Name

_**The name is Sol Kilkarn. Yes, it's short for Solomon. I can't help but find my full name overblown, which is why I cut it short. Until recently, I was just a minor duelist on the Minnesota circuit...**_

_**...and then the city was hit by the Darkness Infection, and I became a monster. This didn't last long, but it was long enough. I still can't believe what I could have done if Chad Montmelier hadn't stopped me.**_

_**Now I'm wandering the Twin Cities, hunting Darkness Infected and freeing them from their condition by defeating them in duels. Of course, that was before they all disappeared... Yesterday it seemed I was out of a job.**_

_**This morning, however, someone far more important crossed my radar. By all rights he should be helping the Light, but he serves the Darkness instead. It seems I caught Degas and Alexander's attention after all, because this man seeks my defeat.**_

_**I have to take him down. The path to atonement begins here...**_

**Chapter Twenty-Four: In the Name **

For the first time in many days, the Twin Cities were finally quiet. With the defeat and sealing of the Demon Prince Graz'zt, the Darkness had faded into the background for the time being. No Darkness Infected stalked the streets of St. Paul or Minneapolis, no Pillar wandered the roads seeking victims, and the two men responsible for all of the madness were within their lairs and out of reach. And so, with a quiet that the area had not known since before the area was Pig's Eye, a silent night passed.

In the lair of the Darkness, Degas slept on a long, immaculately white bed, arms crossed over his chest. Elsewhere, Alexander slept with Bethany in the crook of his arm, the covers pulled tight around both of them. Caiside slept in his cell while still hanging in his chains, not free from his madness even in repose; in his sleep he babbled, "Let the world bleed... the hand of Death caresses it..."

In his family's mansion, Ulysses Cantrell slept dreamlessly next to his bed, a pool of sweat surrounding him. He tossed and turned, dreams of the Darkness flitting across his mind.

The Beloved of Fire had retreated to a chair after Merlee's call, and so he slept leaning against the upholstery, arms dangling over the sides, his dreams carrying him back into his past, as always. (Of course he dreamed; what good would a servant of Dreams who could not experience them be?) Elsewhere in the house, Vivienne slept curled into her covers, smiling in her sleep.

Demetrius Lark, having gotten a room in a hotel on the other side of Minneapolis from the Hilton, slept in full attire on top of his sheets, cane and Duel Disk close at hand in case any enemies tried to break in. In case of attack by the Darkness in the night, he planned to go down dueling and/or thrashing people over the upper body with a stout length of oak.

Hidden from as many prying eyes as they could, in separate parts of the city, Jean-Vic Viper and Donna Abernathy (formerly Menardi) cowered in fear, ready to awaken and flee on a moment's notice.

In the Minneapolis Hilton, Chad was on his bed and snoring slightly, folded in on himself. Battling a Dark Duel, after all, leaves one drained. He hadn't even had enough time to register Laura (in her underwear) and Gerald sleeping in each other's arms before collapsing onto the mattress.

And in the other bed, Gerald and Laura still held each other, both sleeping soundly. Gerald's sleep was soon marred, however, as a headache rushed over him. Before it could awake him, the vision unfolded as a dream...

**0000000**

_The Balance, great and glorious, hung overhead, the Darkness prominent and the Light diminished. Within the center lay ever-swirling, ever-mutating Chaos, the result of the Balance's disorder._

_But then the Darkness retreated, and the lines surrounding the Balance fell back into place. The Chaos faded away, and at its center lay something Gerald couldn't see. Just being in its presence was enough to drive away all of his fears and worries, however._

_And then... he began to see the past. Images, stretching back across millennia..._

_On a 19th-century merchant ship, a man in monk's robes stepped out on the bow, hefting a massive spear in his hands. Rising from the sea was an abomination, a horrid creature standing forty feet tall and with the scales of a fish. There was a flash of the Balance's center, and the monk cried, "Back to the depths, damned Tha'hon!" as he drove the spear into the abomination's chest..._

_In a massive castle, around the time of the Renaissance, a man in an elegant purple suit stepped into the dungeons. Around him swarmed vaguely human creatures, fanged maws dripping saliva, and a tall, pale figure stepped out among them (a vampire, something told Gerald). The man in purple smiled and began to mutter something. Another flash of the Balance, and a circle of light surrounded him, driving off the vampire's minions and sending the undead to his knees as the man took out a stake..._

_Within another castle, further back in the past (the turn of the 12th century, Gerald sensed), a knight in brilliant armor fought off a hideous pig/ape monstrosity, a demon if ever there was one. "Lord, grant me strength," the knight prayed, desperately blocking the demon's swipe on his blade. There was a flash of the Balance, and white fire suffused his sword, causing the demon to recoil. It was the opening the knight needed, and he struck the weapon home..._

_Amid cherry trees, a Japanese woman in the robes of a shrine priestess, a mikado, knelt over a dying man. The man raised a hand to the sky, uttering words Gerald couldn't understand but that he knew were a plea for mercy. Stroking his face, the mikado slid an ofuda over his face and pulled a silver knife from inside her robe. Once again the Balance flashed, and the knife slid into the man's heart, driving a black presence - a demon - from his body..._

_And among the ruins of a massive crystal prison, a dark-skinned man in linen robes (a sorcerer, the vision indicated) and a Roman centurion battled a wizened, corpselike man in the remnants of a toga, a lich. The lich, cackling, hurled a ball of black fire at the duo, but the robed man caught it on the head of his staff. As the fire faded, the sorcerer chanted in a language long since dead and drew on all his powers. A final time the Balance flashed, and the sorcerer let out a blast of arcane power. It struck the lich and smashed through him, blowing away his unnatural life..._

_These visions and a thousand others danced about on the edge of Gerald's thoughts, and at their center was the Balance in alignment..._

**0000000**

Half-turning in his sleep, Gerald blinked into a fuzzy wakefulness. He groped for a pen, clicked it on, and scribbled a few words on a pad before succumbing to his sleep once again.

**0000000**

Only a handful of people stayed awake on this night. One of them was a young man with dark, curly hair, standing just over five and a half feet and clad in a light brown ensemble, a chain around his neck and leading under his shirt. A Duel Disk was affixed to one arm, and he currently leaned against a wall, going through a deck of Duel Monsters cards.

This young man was Sol Kilkarn, and he glanced up at the stars, marveling at how much brighter they were this night. His wandering had led him to upper Minneapolis, near the ruins. For some reason, he couldn't sleep.

Actually, he knew the reason - a voice had told him not to. He'd heard the voice just before he would have gone to bed, and so he had spent much of the evening making his way here.

_What's the saying?_ Sol thought as he flipped through his deck. _It's all right to hear voices as long as you don't do what they ask you? Well, I broke that rule... _

He loaded the deck into his Duel Disk again, satisified with it. Earlier in the day, he'd given it a drastic redesign, and now he was content with how he had reshaped it. Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the wall and entered the ruins.

Even though he had seen the meteors come crashing down into the city two days before, Sol still gasped on seeing the results up close. None of the buildings were intact for a solid mile in every direction. Smoke still rose from parts of the rubble, although nothing was left to burn. As the stars were bright, Sol could see, but other than that nothing lit the ruins - all the streetlights were melted or crumbled.

The young man picked his way through the streets, swerving around larger pieces of debris as he worked his way towards the center. He couldn't think of a good reason to be here, but the voice had told him there was something in the ruins, and so he followed that advice.

It turned out to be good advice, as he walked across a shattered piece of road and saw someone else, a man kneeling next to a Coleman lantern. He hurried his pace...

...and then stopped as a wave of realization coursed through him.

The man knelt in front of the remains of the Wells Fargo Building, although someone who hadn't known the building's identity would not have identified it. From behind, all that could be seen was a black jacket, black dress pants, and a reversed collar. Hearing Sol's approach, the man stood up and turned around, revealing he wore a white shirt and a cross around his neck. He had graying hair, and regarded the younger man through a pair of bifocals. The man - the priest - had lines on his face belying a long, bitter experience with the world.

Even though his time as a Darkness Infected was relatively short, Sol knew the man's identity on description alone. "Father Young," he said, eyes narrowing.

"And you would be Sol Kilkarn," the priest replied, nodding his head, "the Darkness Infected turned free agent. I am indeed Father Emil Young, formerly of the Church of the Wondrous Assumption, now unassigned. What brings you to the heart of such a desolate place, my child?" His voice had a tinge of a southern accent to it, but Sol couldn't place the region.

"I could ask you the same question. What would the Darkness want with this dead zone?"

Father Young chuckled, although the gesture had no humor in it. "Absolutely nothing, my child. Nothing at all. I came here myself, to pray for the souls of those killed by the Dark Servant's foul magic. Is that what brought you?"

Sol shook his head. "I don't remember the prayer. Nor do I really believe you, either." His curiosity reached the breaking point, and he finally asked it. "Why would you even bother? You're not a real priest."

"I am," the accused man replied, glaring through his glasses at Sol. "This isn't a costume, Sol. Since 1977 I am an ordained priest, a servant of the Lord Almighty, and I do not take kindly to such accusations. Even if I no longer serve a parish, that doesn't excommunicate me." He then paused, the glare fading, and said, "But you're wondering why I serve the Darkness. Sit down, this will take a while."

Still doubting Father Young's words, Sol sat on what used to be the steps of the Foshay Building (thrown by a meteor) and faced the older man.

**0000000**

A few other people were awake, but they were not in the Twin Cities. Nor, for that matter, did one of them truly qualify as a "person".

The air blurred outside the limits of the city of Shakopee, and Hanzaki emerged, leading a small band of Darkness Infected. Unlike the usual type, however, these Infected had pure black eyes, and the marks on the backs of their hands wrapped up and around their arms. The Lycra-clad man thought of them as the "packages".

"Okay, Number 53," he said, checking a clipboard in one hand, "you're up. Make your way towards the center of town and then just stand there - the rest will take care of itself."

The person addressed, a thin, sweaty man in yellow clothing, nodded a few times and staggered into the city, body shaking with every step.

Taking a pen from the pouch hidden behind his symbol, Hanzaki checked off the first item on his clipboard. His eyes went down the list, and he pondered the next destinations - Glendale, Apple Valley, Farmington, Eden Prarie, Albert Lea... Choosing one of them, he made a gesture with one hand, and he and the other "packages" disappeared as the air bent around them.

As they vanished, the man he'd sent out haltingly walked on, beginning to babble in the most incomprehensible way. After a few more steps, however, he stood rigid, arms at his sides. He'd reached the center of town.

The man then looked up and screamed as a wave of darkness burst out from his body, washing through the city and everyone in it. Two more waves followed, digging into every building and blacking out the lights.

Once it was over, the man appeared once again as a normal Darkness Infected. His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, going still. The only time he moved was when the shield of force passed over him.

**0000000**

Father Young cleared his throat and began, "My family has always spread the Lord's word. My grandfather was a chaplain in World War I, and my father preached in the Church of the Wondrous Assumption before I took his place. My older brother, Marcello, is a priest as well, and my younger sister married a reverand. I grew up with no greater desire than to serve the Lord by preaching his Gospels. And so I entered seminary almost the moment I finished high school..."

"Pardon my interruption," Sol asked, "but where exactly are you from?"

"Florida. The panhandle, to be more exact."

"Wouldn't have guessed that..."

The priest shrugged, adjusting his glasses. "Most people guess Lousiana. I think it's the accent. As I was saying... I went through seminary and was ordained as a priest on June 21st, 1977. Shortly thereafter, I stepped into my father's place as the pastor of the Church of the Wondrous Assumption. For the next twenty-three years, I could think of no better way to spend the balance of my threescore and ten..." He sighed.

There was a long moment's silence before Sol asked, "What happened?"

"I will admit it was foolish of me to think the Lord would pay the turning of the Millennium any special attention - God is not bound by the calendar of Man - but it was still kind of a sting. But more importantly, around that time I'd begun to see a look on the faces of my congregation that didn't seem right. It was a look of utter disinterest, like the last thing they wanted to hear was the word of the Lord. I'd used to teach Sunday school, so I was familiar with it..."

Father Young paused, clearing his throat.

"A short while later," he continued, "I began to test them. I would announce the topic of my sermons before giving them, and then stand by the door after Mass and quiz them as to what topic I'd preached. Without fail, they would always parrot back the topic I'd given, usually repeating my exact words. It was a sign they hadn't listened to a word of it. So I moved on to the ultimate test...

"One warm April Sunday, we went through the Mass as normal, and after the Gospel reading I stood before them and announced that my topic was 'Lying and the human heart'. And then I began to speak complete and utter gibberish. I made sure not to say a single word that would make any sense whatsoever; everything I said consisted of random syllables, thrown together. For ten minutes, I said the most random babble I could, and after Mass I stood at the door, asking them what my sermon was about." He paused again, hanging his head.

Sol thought for a second, and then frowned, saying, "Let me guess. They all said, 'Lying and the human heart'."

"_Every last one of them._ Nobody had even noticed I'd said anything out of the ordinary... that would have required them to _listen_ to me. As the last of them left, it hit me that these people were supposed to be God's chosen ones, his children on Earth, created in his image. How could the Lord allow such faithless, empty souls to be his people? I left the church the next day, leaving them to their lack of faith and their wasteland of the spirit. As far as I was concerned, that church was _dead._"

"And this is why you serve the Darkness?" Sol asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because of one group of people?"

The priest laughed at that point, shaking his head. "I'm not _that_ petty, my child," he replied. "But it isn't just that group, either. They were just a symptom. The world has forgotten there's anything greater that what it can see. The last time this happened, God flooded the world and wiped the slate clean, except for Noah... but then God tied His hands by promising Noah he'd never repeat the process, sealing the pact with the rainbow. The Darkness has no such binding agreements." Father Young pushed his glasses back up from where they'd slid and smiled. "When the Darkness has scoured the world, humanity will once again see that something greater exists. Their faith will be renewed, and those who had the strength to survive will once again follow the ways of the Lord..."

Before Father Young could even finish his sentence, Sol sprang to his feet, eyes wide. "So _that's_ it?" he said, disbelief running through his words. "You think you're a new Noah? How the hell can you believe that's what God wants?"

"It's not," the preacher said, lowering his head again. Overhead, false dawn had come upon the city. "This must be done, but it is not the Lord's will. By doing this, I have damned my soul forever. But I accept this... What price is one soul for the world?"

Sol moved up to Father Young's face, glaring into his eyes. "You do realize I can't let you get away now, right?"

"**Away**!" the priest yelled, and a burst of force pushed Sol back, nearly knocking him down. "In truth, I told you all of this because I rather wanted you to react like that. Degas and Alexander wanted us to duel - they wanted me to deal with you before you could further aid Gerald and his allies. Are you ready?"

Rather than answer with additional words, Sol raised his Duel Disk and activated it. It hummed, searching for an opponent, and he thought, _When I was still a Darkness Infected, one of the others told me about Father Young and how powerful he was. If I can defeat him, I can strike the Darkness a hard blow..._

Behind both duelists, the sun slowly began to rise. Father Young raised his arms and looked to the sky...

A black circle, the mark of the Dark Duel, drew itself around both men, and then the ground shook. The circle fractured, the center laying between the duelists and a ten-foot radius stretching from it. Dust rose from the street, and this newly-created platform rose up, rising ten feet off of the ground.

That done, the priest raised one arm, which glowed with white energy. When the energy faded away, he was wearing a dark red Duel Disk,an inlaid-gold cross beside the deck slot. A deck was already loaded into it.

As Father Young activated the Duel Disk, he thought, _My words did what they were supposed to do - they goaded you into battle - but there's another reason I want to duel you. This will be a trial, my child - prove your strength._

"I cannot show you mercy, my child," Father Young said audibly. "Come forth with all your might!"

"I didn't plan on doing anything less!" Sol replied. "Let's go!"

Both Life Point counters went to 8,000 and the battle began.

As Sol finished drawing his opening hand, he thought to himself, _I need to be on my guard. This isn't the first time I've run the deck as it is now, but it's still rough on the edges._

Father Young, meanwhile, tucked his last card into his hand and said, "I think I would prefer to let my opponent take the opening turn."

"All right, then," Sol replied as he drew another card. He looked at his hand and thought, _It's not much, but a classical opening will do._ "I set one monster in Defense Mode and two cards facedown." The holograms flashed into place at the center of the Dark Duel's circle. "That will settle my turn."

The preacher nodded, drawing his own opening card, and pushed his glasses back up. "I begin by calling down the Shining Angel in Attack Mode," he said.

A ray of light from the rising sun shone on the platform, and a winged man in a toga descended onto the rocks. He had the bearing of a Spartan athlete, and his demeanor as he stared at Sol was not a friendly one. (1,400/800)

"Now I'll set a card facedown," Young said as he did so, "and let you take over."

Sol drew, smiled, and declared, "I play the Continuous Magic Card called Ancient Gear Castle!"

The street below the duelists shook, and a large building rose from the ground. It resembled a medieval fortress, studded with torches and bearing what looked like a sharpened battering ram within the doorway. Dust rose from its foundations.

"Now," Sol continued, "I summon one of the creations put together within it - the Ancient Gear Soldier! And due to the effect of the Castle, it gains 300 Attack Points!"

A hatch opened on the top of the castle, and a column with a large block-and-tackle on the end rose up. At the end of it was a crude mechanical soldier, multiple gears showing; one of its arms was a machine gun. The primitive crane lowered it to Sol's field, and it brandished its gun at Father Young. (1,300/1,300) Several chains launched from the castle and hooked into it, tightening its gears, even as one of the torches on the building's front lit. (1,300/1,300 - 1,600/1,600)

With a sigh, Father Young said, "I'm familiar with how the Ancient Gear monsters operate, so I know you can attack without worrying about my facedown card..." At the same time, he thought, _This trap isn't that sort, Mr. Kilkarn, but I'd have to offer a monster to make it work, and I don't feel like wasting it on something that's not a threat._

"Glad to hear you know them," the young man said. "Ancient Gear Soldier, take out the Shining Angel!"

Raising its gun, the Soldier took aim and opened fire, the bullets slamming into the Shining Angel. His wings were obliterated, and he staggered a moment before he fell, shattering. Father Young's Life Point dipped to 7,800.

"When the Shining Angel is destroyed, I can bring out any Light monster with less than 1,500 Attack Points," Father Young noted. "And I pick one that doesn't have any at all! I Special Summon the Angel of Wisdom - Mercury!"

One feather from the slain Shining Angel settled on the platform, and a pillar of light shone down on it. The feather glowed and vanished, and soon a new being stood in its place. It looked like a young woman, but she was completely bald and had emerald-colored skin, clad in a leather dress. Large wings sprouted from her back, and she carried a book under one arm. (0/1,700)

Sol raised an eyebrow and asked, "Shouldn't that be 'Agent of Wisdom'?"

The priest's eyes narrowed. "Do not insult my angels by calling them that silly title. It was invented to keep overreactive parents from complaining. And don't call them 'fairies' either. Do they look like the fae?" Shaking his head, he continued, "They are angels, my child. Plain and simple. Every one of my monsters is an angel in some way, and so I will call them as such. Just keep that in mind and you won't get confused."

"All right, then..." He was confused already, but Sol managed to keep from showing it. "I'l end my turn here."

Father Young drew, and then took another card from his hand. "As I am not satisfied with my holdings, I play Reload, letting me shuffle my hand back into my deck and draw that many cards." He did so in short order. "Then I will switch Mercury into Defense Mode..." The angel knelt, folding her wings in front of her. "...and summon a being created by the forces of Heaven to punish those who defy celestial law! I call forth the Majestic Mech Ohka!"

Fire fell from the sky in a single, massive ball. This fire began to take shape, soon taking on a form similar to a winged, shining lion with red lines of force drawn along its frame. A bright red jewel shone on its chest, and it exhaled red energy. (2,400/1,400)

Another torch on the Ancient Gear Castle lit, and Sol thought, _The Majestic Mechs... I'm not too familiar with them, but I believe this one normally needs a Tribute. Summoning it without one kills it at the turn's end._

"You who have created a machine in mockery of the human form and given it life," Father Young said, "now you will see it rent asunder! Majestic Mech Ohka, attack the Ancient Gear Soldier with Righteous Flame!"

The heavenly being rose high above the platform, gathering together incredible amounts of power. It aimed its head at the Ancient Gear Soldier, and a single wave of glowing red power arced down at it...

Sol tapped a button on his Duel Disk and announced, "Activate Sakuretsu Armor, which destroys your monster and saves mine!"

There was a brief flash as the glowing armor surrounded the mechanical creation, and then the energy hit it. The armor shattered, but the force of the impact sent the energy back at its source. In seconds, the Mechanical Mech Ohka convulsed under the force of its own energies, and then vanished, consumed utterly.

The priest shrugged, saying, "Not that it mattered. Either way Ohka would have gone to my Graveyard. I'll just set a card facedown and end my turn on that."

Drawing, Sol thought, _I don't have anything that can defeat Mercury just yet, and I still don't know what he has facedown. This will do for now._

Before he could play the card in question, however, Father Young waved to his activating facedown and declared, "I open my facedown card, Solemn Wishes, which will give me back 500 Life Points every time I draw. Now, back to your turn..."

"Right," Sol agreed. "I set a monster facedown..." As the monster appeared, a third torch lit on the Ancient Gear Castle, one more than he'd have any need to sacrifice. "And I'll call that the end of my turn."

"You could call it many things, but most of them would be unbecoming to a servant of the Lord," the preacher muttered. He drew, and a rain of light fell upon him, raising his Life Points to 8,300. "Now I'll summon an angel unlike most of Heaven's servants - one whose primary occupation is study and research, not war or guarding humanity. I call forth the Hysteric Angel!"

More light shone upon the platform, the sun rising in the sky behind the duelists. In that light, a very fussy angel appeared, adjusting a pair of glasses. The angel's gender could only be described as ambiguous - it was hard to tell whether it was a feminine man or a woman. Then again, everything Sol had read indicated angels had no need for genders. (1,800/1,000) Yet another torch lit on the Ancient Gear Castle.

After a moment's consideration, during which Father Young's eyes flicked between the facedown monster and the Ancient Gear Soldier, he came to a decision and ordered, "Hysteric Angel, undo the sin that is the Ancient Gear Soldier with Holy Ray!"

Taking hold of his/her/its glasses, the Hysteric Angel adjusted them for a moment, and then the angel's eyes glowed white. A beam of pure light fired out of the Hysteric Angel's eyes, focused by the glasses until it was sharpened into a single point. This carved through the mechanical man, and it fell apart into a hundred pieces, leaving Sol's Life Points at 7,800.

"In my second Main Phase," Father Young continued, "I play Terraforming, letting me search my deck for a Field Magic card and put it into my hand." A beam of blue light shot up next to him, and several images flicked across it. After a moment, he touched one of them, and the card solidified. As he took it, he tipped it to Sol.

_Sanctuary in the Sky,_ the young man thought. _It was that or Luminous Spark, and given his attitude there was no contest._

"I won't play it just yet, however," the priest concluded. "Instead, I'll end my turn."

Drawing his next card, Sol held it up and said, "How appropriate. I play Graceful Charity!"

The angel descended from the sky above them, pointedly ignoring Father Young (who merely adjusted his collar). She gestured to Sol, and three cards from his deck rose into his hand. Taking the Ancient Gear and Mine Golem from his hand, he handed them to her, and she disappeared.

_Of course she ignored me,_ Father Young thought as Sol studied his cards. _She wasn't called down for my benefit, after all. Still..._ He frowned at the idea now in mind.

Taking another card from his hand, Sol continued, "There are three more counters than I need, so now I'll give up the Ancient Gear Castle for its second most powerful creation. Meet the Ancient Gear Beast!"

Dust began to rise from the Ancient Gear Castle as it shook, bricks falling out of the structure as all four lit torches went out. Parts of the wall cracked and fell apart, and then a massive metal paw smashed through the battering ram at the castle's front. The entire castle fell in, and the Ancient Gear Beast, as always resembling a giant metal dog, rose to its feet. (2,000/2,000)

"Another mockery of life," the priest said, observing the machine's entrance. "This always was your style..."

Reaching for his facedown monster, Sol continued, "And it's not the last one this turn. I'm going to do your Hysteric Angel a favor and banish him... er..." He paused, blinked, and asked with a slight blush, "What pronoun should I use?"

After a long, heavy moment, Father Young adjusted his cross and said, "To be perfectly honest, my child, I don't know either."

"Well, I'm sending the angel back to Heaven, anyway. I flip my Golem Sentry into Attack Mode, which sends the Hysteric Angel back to your hand!"

Part of the platform turned malleable, raising up into an arch with a door at its center. Soon it developed a head, arms, and legs; the door-creature wore a red loincloth and carried a staff. (800/1,800) Reaching into itself, the Golem Sentry opened its door, and a glowing hand reached out, grabbing the Hysteric Angel. Fight as the angel would, the hand drew the diving being into itself and slammed the door shut.

The priest tucked his card back into his hand and asked, "I have to ask. Ancient Gear monsters are their own group, but you're also playing Rock monsters... where is the logic?"

"There are two reasons," Sol said, his eyes closing. "One is that you can't really build a deck with nothing but Ancient Gears... and the other is a family reason. All my Rocks are Golems. My grandmother once told me that my family's lineage goes back to Judah Lowe..."

"I know that name," Father Young said, eyes widening. "He was the rabbi who created the Prague Golem. But if I recall the story, his golem turned against him."

Nodding, the young man added, "It was because he tried to create life, going against the law of Heaven. But the Ancient Gears aren't an attempt to create life - they merely imitate it. Same with my golem monsters. I need never fear my ancestor's misfortune. As I was saying..." Turning to his Ancient Gear Beast, Sol ordered, "Attack Mercury with your Gear Fang!"

The giant mechancial dog sprang forward, jaws opening wide, and caught the emerald-skinned angel in its fangs. Its head shook, and it thrashed about, slamming the unfortunate Mercury against the ground, before she finally shattered.

"Now," Sol continued, "Golem Sentry..." He paused, tensing up as he thought, _Even if he serves the Darkness, what am I going to bring down on myself by attacking a priest directly?_

Seeing this, Father Young spread his arms and said, "God's favor never stopped anyone from beating a clergyman at chess. You cannot afford to hold back in this duel, my child."

Relief spread through Sol's body as he ordered, "Golem Sentry, attack directly!" He then turned away.

Raising its staff, the Golem Sentry stamped one foot on the platform. A large rock hand grabbed Father Young and squeezed until a bone cracked. He cried out and dropped to one knee, groaning as his Life Points lowered to 7,500.

"As per its effect, I turn Golem Sentry facedown," Sol concluded. The monster disappeared. "One card facedown and this turn is done."

It was a moment before Father Young pushed himself back onto his feet, his glasses askew. He moved them back up on his nose, took hold of his next card, and muttered, "Despite my comment, I don't think chess games usually get that violent..." He drew, and Solemn Wishes flashed, a rain of light covering him as his Life Points went back to 8,000.

_And we're back where we started,_ Sol thought.

As if he'd read Sol's mind, the preacher declared, "I play Pot of Greed, which raises my Life Points past the starting point with Solemn Wishes... a pity I only gain the Life Points once." There was another rain of light as Father Young's Life Points went up to 8,500, and he ignored the hologram while drawing. "And now..." He held up a card Sol had expected.

"You realize how hypocritical your playing that card is, right?" the younger man muttered.

"How can a card be hypocritical?" His Field Slot opened, and Father Young slid the card into place. "I play the Field Magic Card called The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Under the feet of the duelists, the platform slowly transformed. It ceased to be tar, and instead slowly turned to gold, the light of the rising sun shining painfully bright off of it. And then that light ceased to matter - the entire sky lit up, and Sol was temporarily blinded.

Once his vision cleared, their platform was fully golden, and clouds had replaced the ground beneath it. Behind the preacher, a massive, beautiful castle (the Sanctuary itself) sprouted from this insubstantial "landscape", the top marked with a column that ended in a crescent and orb.

"Welcome, Sol," Father Young said, "to the kingdom of Heaven. In this sacred place, when an angel falls in battle, I am spared any damage from its defeat." He sighed, looking around. "How sad that this is about as close as I'll ever get. Either way..."

He took two cards from his hand, setting one facedown in a Monster Zone and one in his Magic/Trap zones, before waving to Sol and looking around again.

_Hmmm?_ Sol drew his next card, distracted by Father Young's actions, and then shook his head. _Focus, Sol!_ He smiled at his draw, turned back to his Duel Disk and declared, "I sacrifice my facedown Gear Golem the Moving Fortress for Steel Ogre Grotto #2!"

For a brief moment, a squat metal creature appeared on the field, looking like someone had haphazardly welded it together. But then it melted, the liquid metal flowing upwards into another form. It looked like a massive, barrel-chested, thick-limbed robot with a single glowing eye. (1,900/2,200)

"In the days of Judah Lowe," Sol noted, "they made golems out of clay. Now they make them out of metal..." He then shut his eyes for a second, thinking, _There aren't many Fairy-type flip-effect monsters in this game other than Skelengel, and I can afford to give him a card; beside, I doubt he's playing it. It's only 100 extra points of damage, but with Solemn Wishes on the field, any extra damage is good!_ "Steel Ogre Grotto #2, attack his facedown monster with Overdrive Fist!"

The robot pounded its chest, and then stomped forward, pulling one steel arm back to crush the facedown monster.

"Activate Draining Shield, turning the attack and the damage into healing!" the preacher countered as his facedown card flipped.

A shield of force covered the facedown monster, a metal circle at its center. Trapped by its programming, the Steel Ogre Grotto slammed its fist into the circle. Arcs of electricity danced over it as a beam of green light fell on Father Young, his Life Points rising to 10,400, and the priest gave a thin smile.

The robot staggered back to Sol's field, throwing off sparks, and he frowned. _Now why would he protect that? If it had an effect, the Steel Ogre Grotto would have set it off, but the Ancient Gear Beast wouldn't have... unless it's too strong for me to destroy with it. Argh, I'm confused..._ "I end my Battle Phase," he finally decided, "and flip my facedown Ancient Gear Drill. By discarding the last card in my hand, I can set any Magic Card from my deck on my field, although I can't activate it yet. So I discard my Trap Hole to make it work!"

Sol slid his last card into his Duel Disk, and the drill rose on his field, the bit rotating rapidly. It dug into his deck until a loud clank sounded, and then the claws surrounding the bit came down and latched with another loud clank. The drill rose, bearing a single card, and set it on Sol's field before vanishing.

"That's it for me," the young man concluded.

"In more ways than you know," Father Young replied as he drew his next card. A rain of light covered him from Solemn Wishes, and his Life Points reached 10,900. He then grinned and shouted, "Now that we're in the Sanctuary, my child, the forces of the Lord can inflict their wrath directly upon you! I flip my facedown monster into Attack Mode... Angel of Force - Mars!"

Sol gulped.

The sky turned dark, and a roll of thunder issued, even though there was no sign of storms. A winged figure appeared on the top of the Sanctuary, and this time Sol could fully understand the priest's insistance on calling his monsters angels instead of fairies. Fairies had mercy, and nothing in this monster's bearing indicated he knew that word existed. He had reddish-brown skin, marked with battle scars (who knew angels could scar?), and a face hardened by ages of combat. He wore a red-and-gold headdress and a dark red wrap around his waist, and carried a mighty spear in one hand.

Spreading his purple-feathered wings, the Angel of Force ascended from the Sanctuary and came down to land in front of Father Young, pointing his spear at Sol. His expression said simply, "You are nothing before the Lord." (0/0)

Before Sol could comment on the contrast in the monster's attitude and its statistics, Father Young explained, "In this most sacred of places, Mars draws power from my victories over you. His Attack and Defense Points are equal to how many more Life Points I have than you do, and right now, that's 3,100."

Raising his spear, the angel shouted a mighty battle cry, light issuing up from his feet. (0/0 - 3,100/3,100)

Taking another card from his hand, Father Young said, "I next summon my Mystical Shine Ball in Attack Mode."

The clouds beneath them parted, and a glowing white ball popped up, humming slightly. (100/100)

"But I will not keep it for long," the preacher continued, "because now is the time to use the Trap Card I set at this duel's beginning. It's called Light of Judgment, and by sending one of my Light monsters to the grave, I can destroy any card on your field or force you to discard a card from your hand. I give up my Mystical Shine Ball to destroy your Golem Sentry!"

The trap flipped up, and the Mystical Shine Ball vanished. Energy danced between the points of the crescent topping the Sanctuary, a white aura soon surrounding it. Seconds later, a beam of burning light fired down from the symbol and seared through Sol's facedown Golem Sentry, leaving nothing but a scorchmark in its place.

_Wise move,_ Sol thought. _Otherwise I could have kept sending his monsters back to his hand..._

For a long moment, the priest did not say a word, instead watching Sol with grave intent. He then ordered, "Mars, attack the Steel Ogre Grotto #2 with Fury of the Highest!"

Those mighty wings spread, and the Angel of Force rose over Sol's field, his spear in hand. Soon the weapon began to glow, burning energy covering it, and the angel smiled in grim satisfaction. The energy became overwhelmingly bright, and Mars drew it back before throwing it down at the robot...

"Activate Negate Attack!" Sol declared. An invisible wall blocked the spear, which exploded on contact. The angel grunted and came down to land on the platform, his spear back in his hand.

Without any traces of disappointment, Father Young said, "I set a card facedown..." He did so. "And end my turn."

Sol drew and immediately played the draw. "Pot of Greed!" He took up two more cards, smiling, and said, "I set a monster in Defense Mode and activate my facedown card, Limiter Removal, which doubles the Attack Points of my Machine-type monsters! And that includes all Ancient Gear monsters!"

The facedown monster appeared, and Sol's card lifted up...

Tapping a button on his Duel Disk, Father Young interrupted, "I counter that with my Magic Drain. Can you discard a Magic Card from your hand?"

The young man's face fell, and he looked at his hand. "No, I can't," he replied.

"Then Limiter Removal is negated and destroyed."

All the color drained from the Limiter Removal card hologram, and it collapsed in several pieces.

"In that case," Sol said, hand twitching, "I switch both my monsters to Defense Mode and end my turn." The Ancient Gear Beast laid down like the dog it resembled, and the Steel Ogre Grotto #2 drew its arms across its broad chest, squatting down.

As Father Young drew, yet more shining rain fell on him, and his Life Points escalated to 11,400; in the process, a burning aura surrounded Mars, increasing his power. (3,100/3,100 - 3,600/3,600) "I set a card facedown," the preacher began, "and summon the Hysteric Angel to my field once more."

Unfortunately, as the Hysteric Angel settled on Father Young's field again, this second summoning didn't answer the question of the angel's gender. (1,800/1,000)

"Now, Mars," Father Young ordered, a certain amount of wrath evident in his voice, "destroy the Steel Ogre Grotto #2! Fury of the Highest!"

Again the Angel of Force ascended over the Sanctuary, spear in hand and glowing with his divine rage. He hurled the spear down, and this time nothing impeded its flight. The weapon struck the machine like a comet, hurling gears and scraps of the frame every which way; smoke rose from the ruins.

Sol could only shudder, remembering that this was a Dark Duel. _What would a direct attack do to me?_ he thought.

"I end my turn," the priest concluded, holding out his empty hand.

With a moment's pause, Sol drew and shook his head. "I pass."

As Father Young drew, Solemn Wishes went to work again, the light raising his Life Points to 11,900. By now Mars was shaking, his power almost to a point where he couldn't contain it. (3,600/3,600 - 4,100/4,100)

Looking to his Duel Disk, the preacher pressed a button, declaring, "I activate Beckoning Light, which returns two Light monsters from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose Majestic Mech Ohka and Shining Angel!"

The clouds on either side of the platform parted, and two bubbles of light rose up, bearing the leonine angel/robot and the winged man in a toga. The bubbles popped and they disappeared, two cards appearing in Father Young's hand.

"Next," he said, "I play a Magic Card called Stray Lambs, summoning two Sheep Tokens to my field in Defense Mode..."

Two little sheep appeared next to Mars, who regarded them with annoyance. They looked like Scapegoats, and seemed to be sleeping. (0/0)

Sol braced himself, and rightfully so, for the priest's next words were, "Mars, Fury of the Highest! Destroy the Ancient Gear Beast!"

Once more the angel flew into the sky, once more he hurled the burning spear... and this time gears flew in all directions as the Ancient Gear Beast blew apart.

Narrowing his eyes, Father Young looked to Sol and said, "If the Light truly counts on you, now is about the time it would matter. Because so far, I don't see any evidence it actually cares. But either way, my turn ends now."

_He's got a very good point,_ Sol thought as he drew. He then paused, smiled, and tossed the card on his Duel Disk. "I activate the Magic Card Ancient Gear Garage, returning an Ancient Gear Monster from my Graveyard to my hand!"

Beneath the platform, the clouds began to roil and spin, becoming a tornado of white, fluffy material. Gears and bolts rose from within the funnel, assembling piece by piece into the Ancient Gear Beast, now the worse for wear. It disappeared, but the card shone in Sol's hand.

"Next," Sol continued, "I set a card facedown and play another Ancient Gear Castle!"

The facedown card flashed into being, and then the clouds parted as the age-worn, torch-studded castle rose up from the street below.

Scowling, the priest muttered, "You profane this sacred ground with that blasphemous place..."

"I thought all acts of creation were holy?" the young man queried. "You keep calling my monsters unholy and blasphemous..."

"There is a difference between creating and playing God, and your Ancient Gear monsters cross that line."

"Whichever... I sacrifice my Mine Golem to bring out the Ancient Gear Beast again."

As Sol said it, it happened - the facedown Mine Golem vanished, and the top of his Ancient Gear Castle opened, emerging the primitive crane again. This time, the newly-repaired Ancient Gear Beast hung from it, swaying slightly in the early morning breeze. With immense care, the crane set its load on the field, and the clockwork monster glared at Father Young as a torch lit on the castle. (2,000/2,000) Several chains fired from the castle and hooked to the Ancient Gear Beast as they had to the Soldier previously. (2,000/2,000 - 2,300/2,300)

Father Young's scowl only deepened as he thought, _There's one turn-around..._ He then sighed.

"Ancient Gear Beast," Sol ordered, "attack the Hysteric Angel with Gear Fangs!"

In response, the mechanical creature hurled itself across the field, biting into the Hysteric Angel and thrashing about. And then the issue of the angel's gender was finally settled - she let out a remarkably feminine scream before she shattered.

The Sanctuary glowed, and a shield of holy light shot up into place around Father Young, the force of the energy causing his jacket to ripple. "Did you forget?" he said. "As long as I stand before the Sanctuary in the Sky, the defeat of my angels cannot harm my Life Points!" The shield soon faded, and the priest adjusted his glasses.

"I didn't forget," Sol replied, adjusting his hand. "I end my turn with that."

Father Young drew his next card, his scowl fading slightly as yet another rain of light covered him, raising his Life Points to 12,400. In front of him, the Angel of Force growled, his muscles bulging as his power increased further. (3,600/3,600 - 4,100/4,100)

_Wow..._ Sol thought as he looked at Mars. _It could almost crush the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon under its heel now._ He then looked to his facedown card and thought, _That won't last._

"You know the difference between Stray Lambs and Scapegoat, my child?" Father Young said. "You can't use a Scapegoat as a tribute for summoning monsters, but Stray Lambs work just fine. So now I call back my angelic creation - I sacrifice a Stray Lamb token to summon the Majestic Mech Ohka!"

One of the two little sheep disappeared in a puff of tiny lights. Those lights flew into the Sanctuary's door, and the symbol on its top glowed with a holy light. Soon the points of the crescent shot out blue electricity, forming it into the outline of the artificial winged lion. This outline turned red, and then it was there, roaring as it came to life. (2,400/1,400)

Behind Sol, another torch burst to life.

After a quick smile of satisfaction, the preacher shouted, "Ohka, strike down the Ancient Gear Beast now! Righteous Flame!"

The Majestic Mech threw back its head, drawing in a long, steady breath, and then fired a wave of red energy at the Ancient Gear Beast...

...and it hit an upraised cannon, which flipped around and pointed at Father Young. Sol merely held up the Magic Cylinder card, and a second later the blast hit the priest, throwing him to the ground as his Life Points dropped to 10,000.

As the Life Point counter went down, Mars staggered, feathers flying from his wings. He then sank to one knee, eyes half-shut as his power drained. (4,100/4,100 - 2,200/2,200)

_My Angel of Force isn't powerful enough now,_ Father Young thought in irritation. _But as long as the Sanctuary still stands I am in no danger._ "I set a card facedown and finish my turn," he said.

Sol drew and glanced at his Graveyard, counting cards in his head. He then nodded to himself and said, "I play Pot of Avarice." The unusual jar appeared, and the Steel Ogre Grotto #2, Golem Sentry, Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, and two Mine Golems appeared for a second before funneling into it. The jar vanished and Sol drew twice before his eyes went wide. "And now I play Mystical Space Typhoon on the Sanctuary in the Sky!"

All the priest could do was cry out.

A mighty wind picked up, and the clouds beneath Sol and his opponent were torn asunder by the gale. They vanished into the aether, revealing the street and the foundations of the Ancient Gear Castle. While the clouds vanished, the Sanctuary itself began to shake, its towers and the symbol atop it all toppling into the building itself. Stone rained from the sky, and the grand edifice shattered, crashing to the ground below.

Silence ruled, and then Father Young looked at the younger man, hatred in his eyes. "You have brought about the fall of Heaven, child," he said, slow and with a heavy anger on his words. "Rest assured you will pay in blood for your misdeeds."

"Any Heaven where you stand on the clouds is Hell disguised," Sol replied, glaring at his enemy. "Let me point out that without the Sanctuary to power him, your Angel of Force - Mars has no power."

Indeed, the fall of the Sanctuary in the Sky had hit Mars hard. His feathers molted off his wings, and he sank to his hands and knees under the weight of his spear. Finally, he let it fall from his hands, panting in agony. (2,200/2,200 - 0/0)

_Blast!_ Father Young thought as he saw this. _Why didn't I switch him to Defense Mode?_

Looking at the other card he'd drawn, Sol let out a slight laugh and said, "Now allow me to show you my most powerful creation... the Ancient Gear Castle has two counters on it, and so I can sacrifice it for the Ancient Gear Golem!"

Again, the castle began to shake, but this time a triumphant theme began to play from within it. Both torches went out, and the building's foundations cracked straight up the middle. The chains attached to the Ancient Gear Beast shattered as part of the wall fell in. (2,300/2,300 - 2,000/2,000) More of the foundation pulled apart, stone and mortar falling inwards, and something rose from the street.

The castle finally fell apart, and the monster summoned stood amidst its ruins. It was a giant, clockwork-powered robot in the shape of a man, one arm thin and spindly and the other arm immense. Its head looked as though it wore a finned helmet, and its eyes glowed a bright yellow. Taking a step forward, the Ancient Gear Golem leapt onto the platform, shaking it as it landed. (3,000/3,000)

"I haven't done anything Heaven can punish me for," Sol said, arms crossing. "For that reason, Heaven's 'avengers' should go back where they came from! Ancient Gear Golem..." He raised an arm over his head. "Prove you're the stronger artificial being! Bring down Majestic Mech - Ohka with Ultimate Pound!"

On being ordered to do so, the Ancient Gear Golem drew one of its fists back, energy charging inside of its frame. It swung the powerful fist around, crushing the leonine being under the force of the blow and cracking the platform on impact. Father Young threw up his arms and struggled to stay upright as his Life Points dropped to 9,400.

As soon as he'd caught his own balance, Sol ordered, "Ancient Gear Beast, attack the Angel of Force with Gear Fangs!"

The giant clockwork dog sprang out, jaws locking around the once-mighty angel, and began to thrash its head about. Mars was too weak to even protest, and fell limp inside the metal monster's teeth, soon vanishing in a burst of light. His master sank to one knee, Life Points now reading 7,400.

Having expected more of a reaction, the young man merely shrugged, ran his fingers through his hair, and said, "That'll be all for me."

Father Young drew another card, but he did so numbly. His Life Points went up to 7,900 as light rained onto him, and then he stood back up, swaying for a brief moment as he caught his footing. He then examined his draw and slid it into his Duel Disk, announcing, "I'm getting a little tired of Solemn Wishes, so I'll dispose of it with Emergency Provisions and regain 1,000 Life Points. Think of it as one last donation in the collection plate..."

_He must be rattled if he's making such an obvious joke,_ Sol thought.

The unearthly mouth stretched out, bit the Solemn Wishes card in half, and retreated as the preacher's Life Points rose further, to 8,900. Without missing a beat, Father Young took another card from his hand and declared, "I now activate Swords of Revealing Light! If I can't kill your abominations, I can at least hold them still!"

Holes opened in the sky, and it rained swords composed entirely of light, their blades piercing through the platform as they struck it. The Ancient Gear Beast and Ancient Gear Golem froze to a halt, their gears locking up.

His composure regained, Father Young pushed his glasses back up and said, "That concludes my turn."

"And I draw..." Sol looked at the card in his hand and frowned, thinking, _That won't help for the next three turns._ "I pass." Around him, the swords began to dim.

Drawing his next card, Father Young slid it into his Duel Disk, announcing, "One card facedown and I end my turn."

Now Sol drew again, but as he did so, the priest activated a facedown card, declaring, "I activate my Trap, Jar of Greed! Greed may be a sin, but drawing another card is worth the cost." Taking another card from his deck, Father Young tucked it into his hand.

The younger duelist decided not to acknowledge that act, instead frowning as he looked at his cards. "I pass again." As Sol's turn ended, the Swords of Revealing Light turned translucent around him, and his monsters began to move again, albeit with great difficulty.

Father Young drew another card, and then sighed. "I play the Magic Card Pot of Charity, which allows me to draw three cards, but requires a Light monster in my Graveyard to leave the game altogether. It seems the Angel of Wisdom will let me draw more cards after all... even if the price to her is a little steep." The beautiful jar hovered in front of him, and there was a moment's cry as Mercury was sucked into it. The jar then vanished, and the priest drew three cards. "Now I play Terraforming..."

_Oh, not this again..._ Sol thought.

The blue beam of light appeared before Father Young, and again he stopped it after a few seconds, taking the card that appeared. But this time, he immediately opened his Field slot and inserted it. "I play a second Sanctuary in the Sky!" he declared.

Again, the clouds gathered underneath the platform, and the grand building of the Sanctuary rose up behind its controller. Despite its earlier total destruction, the building seemed none the worse for wear. As a matter of fact, it was actually _gleaming_. Sol then remembered this was a different Sanctuary in the Sky, not the one he'd destroyed.

"I summon Shining Angel and end my turn," the preacher finished. Again, the toga-clad angel landed in front of him, arms crossed. (1,400/800)

_If it weren't for those swords, I could knock the Shining Angel down, but what good would that do with the Sanctuary out?_ Sol thought. He drew, paused for a moment, and then said, "I summon the Ancient Gear Cannon in Attack Mode."

The platform shook for a second as a large, primitive cannon rose from it, gears flanking the barrel. (500/400)

"Now," Sol continued, "I activate its special ability - by sacrificing it, I can deal 500 points of damage to your Life Points. To put it another way..." He swung his hand down. "Fire!"

A burst of smoke came from the cannon's muzzle as it exploded, and a cluster of gears struck the priest, knocking him onto his knee again. He coughed briefly as his Life Points lowered to 8,400.

Giving a glare at one of the swords around him, Sol muttered, "That's it for now." The swords vanished, and his monsters moved freely once more.

After drawing his next card, Father Young paused for a moment, dusting off his clothing. He then held his cards at arm's length and crossed them with his other hand, whispering, "Lord, defend the poor child's soul as I lay waste to his body..." Looking at his opponent again, he took a card from his hand, saying aloud, "I offer two monsters as a Tribute for my next monster - my Shining Angel and the surviving Stray Lamb. You seem to be familiar with the Majestic Mechs..."

"Yeah," Sol replied. "As I recall, there's Senku..."

"The Messenger, whom I haven't drawn..."

"Ohka..."

"The Protector, which you destroyed..."

"And..." Sol paused, and then his eyes went wide.

Father Young nodded. "The Destroyer, which I am about to bring forth. I tried to go easy on you, my child, but now Heaven demands your defeat! I summon the most powerful of Heaven's creations, the Majestic Mech - Goryu!"

Both the long-forgotten sheep and the Shining Angel looked to the sky, and then they vanished in twin flashes of light. Overhead, the early morning sky parted, and... something emerged. It slowly flew down from the heavens above, looking like a gold-and-white serpent for most of its considerable length. Its body was topped by a vaguely triangular chest, with massive white wings stretching from its back and a featureless head looking upon Sol. (2,900/1,800)

_It's not as strong as my Ancent Gear Golem, but there must be something in Father Young's hand to power it or he wouldn't have made two sacrifices for it when one would have brought it out for the turn..._ Sol prepared himself.

"'In my father's house there are many mansions...'" Father Young taunted, holding up another card. "This card is one of them. It's an Equip Magic Card called Shine Palace, and it grants a Light monster 700 Attack Points - and Goryu, as a creation of Heaven, qualifies!"

The clouds of the Sanctuary in the Sky parted, and a glowing castle rose from them next to the Sanctuary in the Sky itself. Its light flowed over Goryu, which trilled in appreciation. (2,900/1,800 - 3,600/1,800)

"Now, Goryu..." Father Young bowed his head. "In the name of God, we shall strike down the damned abomination called the Ancient Gear Golem with the eternal Radiant Eruption. Amen."

Goryu rose over the heads of the duelists, pinpoints of light covering its body. Those wings stretched out, and then it was as a rain of needles falling onto the Ancient Gear Golem, burning a thousand holes through the machine's surface. Its clockwork came to a halt, and it slowly toppled over with a sound like an ironworks collapsing before shattering. Sol couldn't help thinking it was somewhat overblown, as his Life Points only dropped to 7,200.

The Majestic Mech descended again, and Father Young smiled. "End turn."

Sol drew, thinking, _Well, hello..._ He then glanced to the Ancient Gear Beast, which was rusting slightly from nonuse. _Sorry in advance_. "I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode," he said now. "That's it."

"In that case, I draw," Father Young said, doing so. He looked at it, and then smiled. "You have slain six of my angels thus far. Most demons could not claim to be as hostile to the forces of Heaven as you are... Now I call upon the might of a mortal who has vowed to avenge my slain angels! Come forth, Mudora!"

A hot wind blew, and a tornado of sand whirled over the field, before releasing a large man in a bronze mask. He had tanned skin, wore a loincloth, and bore a sharp knife in one hand. Clenching a fist, he turned the knife over in his hand. (1,500/1,800)

"And for each angel in my Graveyard," the priest noted, "Mudora gains 200 Attack Points. Because I removed Mercury for Pot of Charity, there are five in there." In front of him, Mudora's fist tightened, and he growled under his breath. (1,500/1,800 - 2,500/1,800) "Now, Mudora, attack the Ancient Gear Beast!"

Pulling his knife back, the Egyptian man dashed across the platform, head down and other arm at his side...

"I activate Draining Shield!" Sol countered, watching the card rise in front of him.

Before it even rose all the way, Father Young replied, "This is why I have Trap Jammer, my child. You won't stop Mudora's vengence!"

The preacher's facedown card lifted, and the Draining Shield never even formed - the card merely shattered. Mudora reached the Ancient Gear Beast and swung his knife around, a glowing arc of light tearing through the clockwork dog. It exploded, hurling gears and framework to the ground, and Sol winced as his Life Points dropped to 6,700.

One gear landed next to Father Young, and he kicked it off of the platform as he ordered, "Goryu, strike down his facedown monster with Radiant Eruption!"

Again the Majestic Mech rose over their heads, spreading its wings and generating its pinpoints of light. They rained down from its body, tearing through the now-revealed Gear Golem the Moving Fortress. Smoke rose from the destroyed machine's casing, and it detonated, flooring Sol in the explosion and leaving him with 5,300 Life Points.

"That's all I can do for now," Father Young concluded.

Staggering to his feet, Sol wondered, _That hurt a great deal... I know this is a Dark Duel, but it definitely doesn't feel like any of the ones Gerald ever fought in. Am I just buying into Father Young's delusions, or does Heaven really have a hand in all this?_ He then shook his head, thinking, _This duel is getting to me!_ He drew a card, blanched at his limited options, and thought,_ I am in serious trouble._ "I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode. End turn..."

The priest drew another card, thinking, _Now he shall experience a trial of the flesh. And none too soon - I think I'm running low on cards._ "Remember when I mentioned the Messenger of the Majestic Mechs?" he said aloud. "He comes now. I call down Majestic Mech - Senku in Attack Mode."

There was nothing of the fanfare that accompanied Goryu's summoning. Instead, a being made of the same substance as the other Majestic Mechs floated down from the sky. It looked something like the Shining Angel as modeled in that way. (1,000/500)

Both of Sol's feet dug into the platform, and he crossed his arms in front of his face.

"Bracing yourself won't help, my child," Father Young said, shaking his head. "Goryu, unleash a Radiant Eruption upon his facedown monster."

The wings spread, the Majestic Mech raised its body, and the light rained down once again. A crude clay being, its body assembled from small cylinders, appeared for a moment to be full of holes, and then it collapsed. (1,000/1,900) Sol quivered slightly as his Life Points hit 3,600.

As the monster died, a mine landed at Father Young's feet. It beeped twice, and before the priest could react it exploded, knocking him to the ground. His Life Points dropped to 7,900, and as he pulled himself to his feet he muttered, "Ah, yes... that was a Mine Golem. I should have guessed you would play those."

Sol ignored this, as he was busy being pessimistic. _My trap won't save me - it does nothing by itself to prevent attacks! I'm wide open..._ He then saw the black lines of the Dark Duel at his feet, looked to his Life Points, and remembered something.

Taking a deep breath, Sol called out, "**_I bring forth my Image!_**"

What lies in your soul, my child? Father Young thought.

A white fog emerged from Sol's palms, much to his confusion - he had expected it to come from his back - and gathered in the air around him. Lines of pure light began to form in the fog, slowly drawing themselves in midair. They looped, curved, and arced about him, and soon the creation was complete - a gigantic man-like being composed of the light lines, hunched over Sol's field and glaring at Father Young.

"Protector of the Sanctuary," the preacher noted. "Judah Lowe, the story says, created a golem to protect the Jews of Prague from those who would harm them. You seek to protect the world, with your deck containing the golems you use for that purpose. I guess it works. But unless its effect prevents direct attacks, you won't be protecting anything today."

There was a rush of information into Sol's mind, he instinctively knew the powers of his Image... and his heart sank. It was useless at the moment. "...it can't..."

"In that case, Senku, attack him directly with Bright Arrow!" Father Young shouted.

Hoverign in front of Sol, Senku placed all six of its legs in front of itself, charging up a ball of light. This it hurled into Sol's face, and the young man cried out as the light burned into him, his Life Points now at 2,600.

The priest drew a card, noting, "On a direct attack from Senku, I get a card from my deck. Now, Mudora..." He sighed. "Had I not played Pot of Charity, this duel would be over. As it is, Mudora, smite him!"

Even as he shut his eyes, Sol could hear a cry of assent from Mudora. He could hear the thud of sandaled feet striking the pavement that composed the platform on which they fought.

And he could feel Mudora's knife sinking into his stomach, reaching his spine before it came to a stop. The monster's hand pressed against his chest, and Sol fell back, pushed off of the blade. He hit the ground wordlessly, hearing a whirr as his Life Point counter moved to 100.

"My turn ends," the priest said, "and Senku goes to the Graveyard as per its effect." The smaller Majestic Mech faded away, and Mudora punched his free hand into the palm of his knife-hand. (2,500/1,800 - 2,700/1,800)

Behind his glasses, Father Young looked at Sol with a worried expression, watching the downed young man stir. _Get back on your feet, my child, he thought. Do not tell me the Light allows those who are willing to give up to seek it._

A long moment passed, during which Sol turned his thoughts inward...

**0000000**

Gerald was asleep, and thus the Heaven's Sphere did not actually exist at the moment. It never did when he was unconscious, even in such a benign way.

But there was a glimmer of light over his sleeping frame, one in a somewhat spherical shape. He stirred, tugging Laura a little closer to him, and had one of the more unusual dreams he would ever have.

**0000000**

_"Get up, Sol."_

_On hearing his name, Sol Kilkarn pushed himself to his feet, dusting off. He was surprised to see a distinct lack of knife wounds, but then remembered he was dealing with holograms, not actual divine avengers with sharp objects. And standing next to him... "Gerald?"_

_Indeed, the Chosen of the Light was standing next to him, or at least a transparent facsimile of the same. His hair was tussled, and he looked half-asleep - even more so than usual. "The last time I checked that was still my name. Now, what seems to be the problem?"_

_Sol sighed, looking to his opponent. "Father Young has me on the ropes. I brought my Image out, but without monsters even that can't protect me. Even if I had monsters I would still be in trouble..."_

_"Yes, I know the feeling. The Darkness is exceptional at backing people into corners. Ever hear of Jacob Waterknot?"_

_"No..."_

_Gerald shuddered and said, "Then you have more luck than you think. Either way... As far as my senses for this sort of thing go, the Light tapped out its resources earlier today, so don't hold your breath on being helped directly. Indirectly, on the other hand..." He smiled. "Get up and draw your next card. You still have to make up for your misdeeds, but you'll do so in person, understand?"_

_Nodding, Sol smiled back. He got the picture. "I understand. We'll meet again, I suppose?"_

_"And sooner than you think." And Gerald vanished with that._

**0000000**

When the dream ended, Sol was standing up again, although he had no memory of actually rising, and he was holding his draw for the turn. And it was just the card he needed. "I play Card of Sanctity!" he announced. "Now let's both refill our hands!"

After he and Father Young had both drawn their hands up to six cards, he activated his facedown card, continuing, "Now I activate Trap Trip, returning a Trap Card from my Graveyard to my hand, and I pick Negate Attack!" He retrieved it and slid two cards into his Duel Disk, concluding, "I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode, and turn the game over to you."

_He has confidence again,_ Father Young thought as he drew his hand to seven cards. _I wonder what he saw while he was down..._ He paused. _Attacking will trigger his trap, but it won't hurt me, and I have no way to take it out._ "Goryu," he said to his monster, "attack his facedown monster!"

The pattern repeated itself - Goryu rose up, drew forth its lights, and fired them into the air. This time, however, they struck against an invisible barrier. Sol did not name the card, but his Negate Attack was face-up for both to see.

Briefly nodding, Father Young said, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

This time, Sol didn't even look at the card he'd drawn. It wasn't part of his plans for the turn. "I flip my Dummy Golem into Attack Mode!" he declared.

The resulting monster was another crude replicia of a human being, but much shorter and carved from stone instead of the Mine Golem's clay body. Whoever had carved it had decided that a "I'm better than you" sneer was an appropriate facial expression, and thus had likely deserved a sound thrashing. (800/800)

Just seeing the monster threw Father Young into a brief moment of panic, but then he recovered and interrupted, "I activate my Trap, Divine Wrath! By simply discarding my Chosen One from my hand, I can negate and destroy that blasphemy and its effect!"

Clouds formed above the Sanctuary in the Sky, and lightning danced on their edges. Soon, a single crackling bolt shot down from the sky, aimed directly at the Dummy Golem...

But then Sol slid a card into his Graveyard slot, and the Protector of the Sanctuary turned solid, its body a bright blue. It lifted a hand, and the lightning bolt fizzled out harmlessly against its palm.

From within the Protector, Sol explained, "My Image effect has quite a lot of usefulness. By discarding one card from my hand, once per turn, I can negate and destroy any one effect that would destroy a monster I control. So my Dummy Golem survives, and all it cost me was an Ancient Gear." His Image turned clear again, and he smiled. "And as you seem to know, that means I can trade Dummy Golem for one of your monsters. You get to pick which one."

The priest laughed for a moment, thinking, _There aren't any angels in his Graveyard, so Mudora's Attack Points will drop right back to their starting amount. So all I have to say is..._ "I choose Majestic Mech - Goryu." He then clapped a hand over his mouth and thought, _Why did I say **that**?!?_

Blinking, Sol muttered, "All right... Didn't expect that, but the trade is confirmed."

In front of him, the Dummy Golem began to spin rapidly, a cloud of dust developing around it. A similar cloud developed around the Majestic Mech, which twitched and rotated nervously. Soon neither monster could be seen behind their dustclouds... and then the clouds cleared, and the Dummy Golem was on Father Young's field, while Sol controlled Goryu.

And then something strange happened. It was hard to tell with a featureless creature like Goryu, but the angelic creation seemed to relax once it was on Sol's field. Its wings lowered, and its body went slack.

Raising an eyebrow, Sol ignored this, instead continuing his turn. "I now play my final Ancient Gear Castle..." For a third time, the proud fortress penetrated the clouds, all its torches cold. "...and summon another Ancient Gear Soldier in Attack Mode!"

Once more, the primitive crane swung out from the castle's top, depositing a metal soldier on Sol's field next to Goryu. (1,300/1,300) Several chains fired into its body as a torch lit on the Castle, and the gears tightened. (1,300/1,300 - 1,600/1,600)

"Thanks for teaching me the monster's attack name, by the way," Sol went on. "Now, Goryu, attack Mudora with Radiant Eruption!"

The attack was different this time, and Sol couldn't understand why. As before, the Majestic Mech flew high into the sky, its wings spread... but this time, the wings folded in on either side of the head, and a bizarre configuration of lines formed at its base. Those lines ran up Goryu's body, and a powerful blast of blinding light shot from its face. The blast hit Mudora, and when the smoke cleared, only his knife was left behind.

As before, the Sanctuary's power engulfed Father Young, surrounding him in a shield of light, but he still flinched as his monster died.

Sol paused, thinking, _If I attacked with the Ancient Gear Soldier, I could destroy the Dummy Golem... but it's not a Fairy - or an angel, as Father Young keeps calling it. That facedown card's not an anti-monster trap, so I could do more damage by waiting until my next turn and destroying it with Goryu._ "I set a card facedown and end my turn," he said.

Sweat rolled down Father Young's forehead as he drew. He then went to his Duel Disk, saying, "I activate Beckoning Light, returning Ohka and Mars to my hand!" The two monsters appeared for a moment and returned to his hand. He went on, "I set a card facedown, switch Dummy Golem to Defense Mode, and summon the Angel of Force - Mars once again!"

The golem crouched, and overhead, the sky parted as the mighty purple-winged angel flew down from Heaven once again. He still bore all the scars from his previous battles, and a new line of teethmarks on his waist. Landing atop the Sanctuary, he glared at Sol. (0/0) Extending his hand, he drew forth power from the building, his eyes shut. (0/0 - 7,800/7,800)

Two torches now burned on the Ancient Gear Castle.

_He has only 100 Life Points,_ Father Young thought. _I can't lose! I cannot possibly lose!_ In the rush, he yelled, "Angel of Force - Mars, Fury of the Highest! Strike down the apostate Goryu!"

Flying off of the Sanctuary in the Sky, Mars took aim with his spear and hurled it at the Majestic Mech, watching it burn towards its target... and then it hit a octagonal barrier, and began to fly back towards him...

"Mirror Force," the priest whispered as he saw the facedown card on Sol's field lift. "Damn my pride. Damn me."

The spear struck Mars, and the angel quite simply exploded, balls of burning fire striking the field around his master. One hit the Sanctuary in the Sky, which began to smolder.

Blinking, Father Young muttered, "All I can do is end my turn."

Drawing another card, Sol nodded at that. "I play Monster Reincarnation," he began, "discarding my Brain Control to return a monster to my hand. Guess which one."

"Your Ancient Gear Golem."

"Right." The stylized holy symbol, which resembled but did not match the Monster Reborn ankh, briefly glowed on the field before a single card appeared in Sol's hand. The young man then said, "I sacrifice the Ancient Gear Castle and its two counters to summon the Golem itself!"

As before, the castle fell in on itself, and the Ancient Gear Golem itself rose up in glory, even as the castle's chains snapped off of the Soldier. (3,000/3,000) (1,600/1,600 - 1,300/1,300)

All Father Young could do was watch, as behind him, the Sanctuary in the Sky fully caught fire. The clouds, being mostly water vapor, were unaffected, but embers were flying over the Shine Palace attached to Goryu.

"I switch the Ancient Gear Soldier to Defense," Sol continued, "and now, Goryu, strike down the Dummy Golem!"

Rising over both players, the Majestic Mech called forth another burst of light. Not even dust was left when the attack concluded, although one of the Dummy Golem's fists did survive. It shattered a second later, and Father Young's Life Points stopped at 5,100.

Before Sol could keep going, he shut his eyes and covered his face with his free hand. He then ordered, "Ancient Gear Golem... direct attack. Ultimate Pound."

The imposing clockwork titan took a few steps forward, the clouds and the platform both quaking with each step. It looked at Father Young as if it were a waste to expend energy on him, and then drew its fist back. The resulting impact cracked the platform, left a hole in the clouds, and stunned the preacher, leaving him with 2,100 Life Points.

"That ends my turn," Sol then said.

Several minutes passed before Father Young got his composure back together, readjusting his glasses. One lens had a hairline crack inching across it. He straighened his jacket, and then shouted, "_**Emerge, my Image**_!"

Unlike Sol, the fog did not rise from the priest's hands - instead, the black cloud rose from his mouth, as if he were exhaling his soul. It gathered over his head and became solid, eventually turning into a blue-skinned demoness with small horns and red hair. She wore the remnants of a white robe, and gently fluttered her wings, blushing a little at her lack of more suitable attire.

"Marie the Fallen One?" Sol said, looking at his opponent's Image as his own shifted its weight. "Well... I guess it's the only suitable Image for a hypocrite."

"Silence, my child, I must concentrate," Father Young replied as he studied his hand. Inside his head, he thought, _I'm holding Ohka, Graceful Charity, Mirror Force, Senku, and the Angel of Judgment - Saturn I just drew. Graceful Charity might well deck me if I play it... I don't need it, anyway. Marie's Image Effect lets me use her as an Ultimate Offering for Light monsters by paying 1,000 Life Points, so I can summon Senku or Ohka, and then use her effect to summon Saturn and finish him off. He only has 100 Life Points, so any advantage will be enough! I can win this right now... I can win... I can..._

The priest's hands dropped. _Oh, who am I trying to_ fool? he thought. _I could have won with Mars. I could have won with Goryu and Mudora. But both times that boy drew just what he needed to get out of the hole. Every time he nears defeat he escapes it. I should have seen it several turns ago... I was never meant to win this duel. A part of me knows that, even - that's why I gave him Goryu instead of Mudora._

He managed a laugh at this point. The Light wants that boy to keep going. It wants him to win. It does not _want a self-righteous hypocrite like me - face it, Emil, you are hypocritical as they come - to bring him down. If I want to even pass for having an iota of faith I have to accept it._

"I pass this turn," Father Young said aloud. "Do what needs to be done." He bowed his head and stepped to the platform's edge.

Sol drew, giving Father Young an expression of pity. "I understand... I play Ancient Gear Tank on my Ancient Gear Golem, giving him 600 more Attack Points."

The Ancient Gear Golem raised its arm, and what looked like a motorcycle with a cannon on the front welded to the appendage. Steam rose from its gears. (3,000/3,000 - 3,600/3,000)

"I'll spare you an attack from your own monster," the young man concluded. "Ancient Gear Golem, end this duel with Diesel-Powered Ultimate Pound."

For the last time, the Ancient Gear Golem raised its fist, the one with the Tank hooked to it. It brought the arm down with enough force to blow away the burning Sanctuary, shatter the platform into ten thousand fragments, and throw the priest facedown. Father Young's Life Points hit zero, and the Dark Duel circle disappeared.

Enough of the platform remained for the two duelists not to plummet, but the Ancient Gear Golem's attack also shattered the seal of the Dark Duel, and so the holograms and their Images faded. Sol shut off his Duel Disk, breathing heavily as he did so. Slowly, the ruined portion of the street settled back to the ground.

It was several minutes before Father Young stirred, his Duel Disk vanishing in a cloud of darkness as he rose to one knee. He dropped his head and murmured, "I yield. You stand victorious, my child..."

_What do I do now?_ Sol thought. He crossed his arms in front of him, watching his defeated opponent with a wary look in his eyes.

The priest laughed, shaking his head and picking up his glasses. "You don't trust me, do you?" he said. "I can't blame you... After all, my words were picked in order to goad you into the Dark Duel. But while you may not believe it, most of them were a lie."

"_What?_" Sol yelled. "What do you _mean_ you were lying? That was a Dark Duel, you just said so yourself!"

"Allow me to explain," Father Young said, raising his hand. "Those words were true before last night. But last night the Darkness committed a sin I cannot allow, a sin that made me rethink all that I had thought..." He paused, fists clenching. "They summoned a demon to this world."

The thought of it made Sol shiver. "Degas and Alexander did _what?_"

"That was my reaction when I sensed it. I was willing to damn my own soul to see the plan through, but when they called on the demon, I could no longer lie to myself - the Darkness isn't going to scour the world, it's going to _tear it apart!_ There was no way I could continue telling myself I was doing what the Lord needed done after that!" Father Young then sighed. "But once I knew that, I needed to see if the Light had enough power to truly challenge the Darkness."

A lightbulb went on in the young man's head, and he said, "So you challenged me to test the Light's strength."

The preacher nodded, continuing, "Do not take this the wrong way, but you are the weakest of those battling Degas and Alexander. If I defeated you, then my orders would be fulfilled. But every time I came close to victory, you overcame it and struck back. The Light truly stands powerful enough to challenge the Darkness, and I know it for certain. Thus I shall refute it." He held out his open hands, and dark smoke began to rise from them.

Now that the battle was over and the adrenline wearing off, Sol yawned wide, turning towards the outskirts of the ruins. "I think I'll leave you to whatever you're going to do next," he said, eyes already starting to close.

"Wait, my child..." Father Young said. "Before you go, allow me to give you my blessing."

Sol blinked, turned back towards the preacher, and muttered, "I would, but I happen to be Jewish." He pulled up on the chain around his neck, revealing what was on the end of it - a silver Star of David.

"You're still my child - we are all children of the Lord - and we follow the same god, despite calling him different names." Father Young held out one hand, two fingers extended, and crossed the air in front of him. "May the Lord be with you, the saints preserve you, the angels watch over you, and Heaven help you..."

Nodding, the young man yawned again and walked out of the ruins, head drooped.

Father Young watched him go, thinking,_ So that's one of those who serve the Light. If Gerald is stronger than he is, they may stand a chance..._ He frowned. _But they're still fighting a losing battle. The Darkness has no boundries anymore. They've already summoned a demon to their side... I don't even want to think about what they'll do to top that._

He picked up his Bible from the ground, holding it under one arm, and thought on. _The only thing I can do is challenge them directly. Degas, Alexander... I believe, cliche as it is, that I must bring the wrath of God upon you._

There was a burst of darkness, and the priest disappeared.

**0000000**

Within the lair of Degas and Alexander, the rising sun had no power. There, the only way to tell if it was day or night was to trust one's watch.

Degas awoke, his senses filtering through various layers as he sat up on his bed. "Father Young's betrayed us," he said to himself as he picked up an image of the duel. "Ah, well. We still have use for hm..."

Sensing something else, the Hand of Darkness smiled, putting his sunglasses back on. "It will be moot anyway. The Pillar of Death is free."

**TRAP TRIP**  
Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: A hand reaching for a mousetrap baited with a candy.  
Effect: Return one Trap Card from your Graveyard to your hand.  
_Note: This card was used by Mad Dog in the GX episode "No Pain, No Game". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**SHINE PALACE**  
Type: Equip Magic Card  
Image: A glowing fairytale castle rising from a green book.  
Effect: Increase the ATK of a LIGHT-type monster equipped with this card by 700 points.  
_Note: This is an actual card in Japan, but has not yet come out in America._

**PROTECTOR OF THE SANCTUARY  
**Image Effect: "Guarding the Populace" - Once per turn, you may discard one card from your hand in order to negate and destroy an opponent's card effect that would destroy a monster or monsters you control.

**MARIE THE FALLEN ONE**  
Image Effect: "Sophistry" - You may Normal Summon an additional LIGHT-type monster during your turn by paying 1,000 Life Points.

_Coming next chapter: With the last of the Pillars awake, Gerald and his allies could use all the information they could get. As it happens, one last Darkness Infected walks the streets of St. Paul, but the circumstances are a little odd. If they're going to get the knowledge they need, the Chosen of the Light and friends will have to put their trust in someone else... and hope things don't turn too weird to handle. What am I talking about? You'll see in Chapter Twenty-Five, "Catfight", which might be misnamed..._


	26. Catfight

**_You can call me Dita for now. Gerald asked me to help him out, and I accepted. Why shouldn't I?_**

**_Less than a week ago, this city was running normally, without any signs that something was about to go wrong. Now... Now I can't even recognize it. I understand Minneapolis is just as bad._**

**_I keep wondering why the Twin Cities were targeted, but I'm not about to expect an answer anytime soon. All I know is that by helping Gerald and his friends, I can make things better. Of course, if circumstances were different, they wouldn't need my help, but that's a moot point by now._**

**_They just can't duel this woman, and they need to defeat her in order to get ahead. I can duel her, so I will. Do I need more reasons?_**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Catfight**

In the lair of Degas and Alexander, in the room with the pillars, the last one began to crack and fall apart, its process almost complete. Obsidian lined the floor, the remnants of the other three pillars. Now the final one prepared to break apart.

With a loud crash, the fourth pillar finally shattered, freeing the person within. It was a painfully thin man, with gray hair and lines around his eyes, his skin tight and pale. He wore a long white coat, and underneath it a blue shirt and thin black pants.

He fell to the ground, gasping for breath and laying helplessly amid the ruins of the pillar.

A moment later, Degas stepped through the door, carrying a small oxygen tank hooked to a mask. He knelt next to the prone Pillar, pressing the tank into the man's hand.

Taking it, the thin man held the mask to his face, opened the valve on the tank, and took several long breaths before rising to his knees. "Thank you," he said after a moment, his breathing returning to normal.

Once the tank was out of his hands, Degas stepped back, hands behind him. "After you recover, you are to find Gerald Laxina and his friends and deal with them," he said.

The Pillar of Death nodded, clipping the oxygen tank to his belt. "Any required order?" he asked.

"No," Degas said. He reached into a pocket and tossed three photographs to the kneeling man. "Here is what they look like. You should be able to sense them once you have regained your strength."

"Any limits to actions?" the Pillar asked, taking another breath from the tank.

Shaking his head, the man in black replied, "Do as you must."

The other man looked up, under Degas's sunglasses, and a thin smile crossed his face. He paused and then exhaled. "Understood."

"You may act when you are ready," Degas said, turning on his heel and leaving the room. He exited in the mirror room, letting out a long sigh and slumping over.

Alexander was in his chair, working on a piece of toast. "And how is he?" he asked his partner.

There was silence for a moment, and then Degas said, "He looked into my eyes. And all it made him do was smile."

The man in green shivered.

**0000000**

Owing to various circumstances (two Dark Duels and general sloth being among them), it was 1:14 P.M. before Gerald's group was fully awake and able to begin planning again. They gathered around a table in the corner of the suite, Gerald himself manning the room's coffeemaker.

Laura had raided her rather limited wardrobe, and having found nothing, now wore a thin white turtleneck and a pair of gray pants borrowed from Gerald; the ankles were rolled up halfway to what were supposed to be the knees, and her belt was much tighter than usual. Chad wore a fringed green shirt and khakis, and Gerald was in the last of his gray outfits, this one a gray button-down shirt and slacks.

The first ten minutes passed with Chad relating his battle with Bethany and Laura describing the duel with Graz'zt; the former also noted his meeting with Alexander, while the latter brought up her encounter with the Light and the Soul Savior. (Neither Laura or Gerald discussed their kiss - both of them wrote it off as a result of her relief at surviving, although Chad noticed they couldn't look each other in the eye.)

"So," Gerald noted, sipping his coffee as he sat down, "once Heaven's Sphere left me, it transformed into that Holy Weapon Soul Savior card... And here I was accusing it of not helping out." He took the card from his deck and slid it across the table to Laura.

Picking it up, the young woman tilted the card down. As soon as her fingers touched it, it had become the Holy Weapon Soul Savior once again. She then slid it back to Gerald, who picked it up and turned it around - it was Heaven's Sphere once again.

After a moment, Chad took out his deck and flipped through his cards until Totem of the Merciful Lion slid off the top. He pushed it to Laura, and she tried to pick it up... only to have her hand pass through it. "Just as I thought," Chad murmured. "That one's not a real Heaven's Gift, persay. It's part of me, not part of the Light."

"Still, it proves the Light has some interest in you," Gerald noted. "The Darkness must as well, if Alexander was willing to chat." He paused, and then said, "Wait... Laura, who did you say gave you the Soul Savior?"

The young woman thought for a moment before saying, "He called himself Obrimos. Why do you ask?"

"Because that name sounds familar... Ah. It might have come up in my vision."

"You had a vision?" Chad asked.

"Last night, as I slept..." With another sip of his coffee, Gerald revealed his vision, one hand rubbing at his sore temple. After it was done, he said, "The part that frustrates me is that I could never make out what was written on the center. Apparently the Light had enough leeway to show me the Balance in alignment but not what it is."

During Gerald's description, Laura and Chad had shut their eyes and turned their thoughts inward. Finally, Laura said, "Well, let's see... First of all, were the people you saw related?"

"Wait," Chad said, blinking as something hit him. "They were a monk, a vampire-slayer, a knight crusader, a priestess, and a sorcerer battling the undead. They're all people we would call 'holy', aren't they?"

"You've got a point," Gerald noted. "And whatever force it was aided them at their time of greatest need. That knight... no... _all_ of them were praying before the force came to their aid-" He stopped, hands hitting the table, and then lowered his head. "It's so _obvious_ now."

A moment of awkward silence passed before Laura hit the table as well, saying, "Of course... It's the only thing that makes sense."

Chad's fingers twitched, and he struck the table out of anger. "Argh... I can see what you're getting at, but I can't quite connect the dots! Give me just one clue..."

Obliging, Gerald said to his friend, "The Balance unaligned is Chaos. What's the opposite?"

"The opposite of Chaos is Order..." And then it struck him, and Chad laid back so far in his chair that it nearly fell over. "Why didn't I see it before?"

Getting up, Gerald rubbed his hands, wondering why he'd gotten so enthusiastic. "The Balance unaligned is Chaos... but aligned, it's the source of all order. Something seemed off... I don't think it's God, persay. It felt more like the foremost servant of a greater power..."

"Assuming one exists," Chad interrupted.

"Yes... although I wouldn't rule it out. We've run into demons, Chad. Logic suggests their opposite number is real as well."

Letting out a long breath, Laura said, "I think I know what to call it. Lucifer has something he says when he's surprised." She paused and continued, "He says, 'By the Divine'. I think that's what they call it... The center of the Balance is the Divine."

There was nothing to say to that. All three of them leaned on the table, all thinking the same thing: _All this for the Divine..._

A knock came at the door, and a familiar voice called, "Room service!"

The three, knocked out of their thoughts, looked to each other, and Laura muttered, "We never ordered room service..."

"And I doubt the staff avoided the Darkness Infection," Gerald added. "Besides, I know that voice quite well." Pushing his chair back, he snuck across the suite, grabbing his Duel Disk off the foot of the bed and holding it as one would any improvised bludgeon.

With one motion, Gerald opened the door, pushed it open, and spun into full duelist stance... only to see the door pass through a blur in the air. Sighing, he said, "Just as I thought." He reached around to the door's front and tugged something off of it, moving back to his friends.

"A message?" Chad said. He took the message, which was several pages long, from Gerald and read: "'To the Chosen of the Light and his friends: the Pillar of Death is loose on the Twin Cities. We have measured the Reciprocal, and it will take just one more Darkness Infected to get another vision. My bosses have decided to give you a chance to earn such, but given the events of last night, it would be unfair to drag you into this right now.'"

He turned the page and continued, "'For that reason, the Darkness Infected will be waiting on the Stone Arch Bridge at 7:00 P.M. Don't be too late - she needs to sleep too, you know. And we strongly suggest you bring a friend. See you there, Chosen. Signed...'" Instead of reading on, Chad held up the message. It was "signed" with an odd symbol.

"Ah," Laura said. "That's the same mark Hanzaki has on his chest." She then paused. "What's the Reciprocal?"

"The amount of Darkness that must be defeated for me to earn a vision from the Light," Gerald replied. "Apparently, there was so much after beating both Bethany and Graz'zt that one more victory will tip it over." He then finished his coffee. "We have until seven tonight... What shall we do until then?"

Laura answered quickly enough: "For starters, we need to go clothes-shopping. I am _not_ going to spend the rest of our time here borrowing from you two." She looked to Chad with a slight smile. "I would need an industrial press to keep the legs of your pants from tripping me."

**0000000**

In the lair of the Darkness, the one-eyed man muttered, "Their progress so far," and turned over the top card of his deck. He smiled at the draw, saying, "The Eight of Cups - the card of abandoned prosperity. But it also means that what one has done so far is of little consequence in the long run. Their achievements up to here mean little."

He set that card aside, said, "Their position now," and turned over the next card. The result did not surprise him: "The Emperor. A card of stability and power. Certainly after defeating Graz'zt and the Pillar of Chaos, one could argue that. It also signifies powerful aid, and this they have in both the Beloved of Fire and the two 'free agents'. But how long will this persist?"

Pausing, the one-eyed man took hold of another card and said, "Their future path." He picked it up and looked at it before giving a sly smile. "The Five of Swords. Once again a sword stands in their path, but the blade is turned against them. After all, the chief meaning of this card is defeat..."

He swept the three back into his deck and shuffled.

**0000000**

As the time and temperature sign over a First National Bank turned to 3:00 P.M., the '86 Corolla GTS rolled into downtown Minneapolis, stopping in front of a long stretch of small stores.

The door to the closest clothing shop was locked - apparently, it hadn't opened before the Darkness Infection took out its staff. This did not deter Gerald's party as they climbed out of the Corolla, however, as there was a handy ashcan next to the door and a large glass window nearby. One swing gained access, and the other swings were to pound down the shards still sticking out of the frame.

"The things I do for the Light," Gerald muttered as the group climbed into the store. He then bit his lip, feeling a twinge of guilt at invoking the Light so frivolously.

Once inside, the three split up - Laura disappeared into the Women's Clothing section, Chad vanished into the Menswear, and Gerald drifted around the register, unsure what to do.

After several long moments of staring at an issue of People, he found himself developing an emotional bond with it and picked it up, flipping through it as he moved into the clothing racks. His eyes wandered past one item in particular, and he muttered, "Hum... 'Seto Kaiba was seen ordering flowers at the upscale 'House of Kittens' florists. The destination - Cairo'... Seto Kaiba has interesting tastes in women..."

He collided with Chad, who had several shirts over one arm and several pairs of pants over the other. "Not getting anything?" the tall artist asked him.

"Nothing strikes my fancy," Gerald replied, stepping out of his friend's way. "It seems plenty of things have struck yours, however."

Chuckling, Chad held one pair of pants to his waist. It didn't even reach his calves. "I only bought one outfit. Everything else here is Laura's. I have to admit she's got good taste... or maybe I'm just not used to seeing someone dressing in more colors than just gray."

The taller man headed towards the front, and Gerald blinked a few times. He then slid over to the Menswear section, moved to a circle rack, and studied one of the Hawaiian shirts hanging from it.

A door slammed, and the lazy man was about to spring up when he realized it was coming from the back of the store. Concluding that Laura was done with the dressing room, he backed away from the shirts and looked in that direction.

Laura's chosen outfit worked perfectly for the athletic redhead she was. She'd picked out a light purple shirt, which she was wearing with the sleeves half-rolled as it was a warm day, and paired it with a pair of light gray jeans. They seemed a little tight on her hips, but this made her legs stand out even more, and they were the sort of legs that asked to be shown off.

As Laura shook her hair out, running her fingers through it to get a tangle out of the mess, Gerald finally remembered to blink. His foot cramped from being pressed down for too long; he'd planned to take a step forward and moved his weight to that foot before forgetting to move. Turning his brain back on, he looked over to Laura and said, "That looks very good on you."

"Thanks," she said, taking her previous outfit off of the hook on the dressing room's door and tossing it to Gerald. "You can have these back now... and stop _staring._"

Shaking his head, Gerald caught the incoming clothing, blinking several times. "My apologies."

The group left the way they'd came, but they left a sizable amount of money on the counter. They weren't thieves, after all.

**0000000**

"Good evening, and welcome to the 6'o'clock news. Our top story is the escalating crisis in Minnesota. Over the course of the last twenty-four hours, eleven additional cities have joined Minneapolis and St. Paul behind an inexplicable field of energy. We take you live to a press conference being held at the Pentagon, where General Lewis Majors is expected to deliver the results of earlier tests on the field..."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have received the official conclusions of tests performed on the unidentified barrier this morning by various scientific factions. Before I begin, I wish to clarify that I will use the terms 'field' and 'barrier' interchangeably.

"First of all, human beings cannot pass through the barrier by any means. It is invisible, but can be touched. The barrier is intensely solid to the touch, but has no apparent feel other than resistence. Attempts to drive through the field were unsuccessful, as it also repels vehicles. This includes bicycles and motorcycles.

'The field seems to stop only human beings and human-created vehicles. Tests involving colored compressed air and jets of water have concluded that the field is fully permeable by air and water - both pass freely in and out of the cut-off area. In addition, witnesses have seen birds flying into and out of the area surrounded by the barrier. A National Guardsman attempted to pass through the barrier on horseback. The horse passed through, but he was pushed off on contact with the field. I assure you the horse was unharmed.

"Weapons have no effect on the field - they pass through it without any effect. The National Guard tested weapons ranging from nine-millimeter pistols up to artillery barrages on the barrier, all of which passed through as though the barrier did not exist. More primitive weapons, including swords and crossbow bolts, passed through as well. As you may have guessed, this means destroying the barrier will not be possible with conventional methods.

"Currently, the barrier encloses an area of two hundred square miles, and may well grow in due time. We are enforcing a strict no-fly zone, but we don't actually know how high up it goes. Reports from NASA indicate that both satellites and a manned space station have passed over it, so we do know it does not extend into space.

"All methods used to scan the barrier's composition have failed to match it to any known form of energy. Geiger counters do not register any radiation from it, and it does not seem to produce heat or electromagnetic fields. In short, whatever is producing this field is not anything the world has known...

"I will now take questions."

**0000000**

The Corolla pulled up to the Stone Arch Bridge just as a nearby clock clicked to 7:00 P.M. A figure was standing out on the bridge's span, and so Gerald and his friends climbed out of the car and headed out towards the center.

As they walked, Chad tightened the Ring of Purity on his finger. Gerald looked at him, and the taller man replied, "After last night, I have trouble with people on bridges." He then paused and added, "The next time we see Lucifer I'll have to remember to return this."

It wasn't long before the three arrived at the center of the bridge, where the figure was waiting. It was a woman, standing five foot nine, with blonde hair done up in a long ponytail and hard eyes; one glance into them confirmed she was among the Darkness Infected. She had a very muscular figure, and her other... attributes were impressive along with it. Like Fuu, she wore armor, but hers was made of blue metal, consisting of a breastplate and a steel band around a slitted blue skirt. On top of her head she wore a winged helmet, the crest stopping just over her eyes.

_Well, I suppose the Darkness would specialize in lunatics,_ Laura thought as they reached the bridge's center. _But who knew they had a thing for women in armor?_

"You're on time," the Darkness Infected noted, readying the Duel Disk on her arm.

"We tend to be," Gerald said. "People are more willing to accept a slow-moving man if he doesn't make them wait. Your name?"

"Ida Hoyle, champion of last month's St. Paul Citywide Duel Monsters Special." She then adjusted her helmet and added, "But some just call me Freya's Maiden."

After a few seconds of looking between themselves, Gerald stepped forward and readied his Duel Disk. "Let's begin, then," he said, starting to load his deck into the slot.

Ida blinked, shook her head, and said, "Sorry, but outside of tournaments, I don't duel men."

The lazy man nearly scattered his deck every which way on hearing that, barely keeping the cards in a neat stack. His eyes went wide, as did Chad's, and he managed to muster enough of himself to ask, "What was that?"

"I don't duel men casually. The idea makes me ill." The armored woman shuddered, holding onto herself.

Gerald gave Chad a helpless look, only to see it returned. Both men sighed and stepped back, Laura stepping forward as they did so. "Leave this one to me, guys," she said to them. "And I do mean guys."

Before Laura could get any closer, however, Ida snorted. "Please," she said. "You're barely feminine enough to count as having two X-chromosomes. And you're definitely too masculine to duel me."

It took all the strength in both young men to keep their companion from pouncing on Ida. Straining against them, Laura shouted, "Let go of me! She needs to die!"

"Killing her will not fill the Reciprocal, Laura," Gerald said with a remarkable amount of calm. "Spare her life. We need this information."

After several minutes, the redhead finally calmed down and slumped in her captor's arms. The three thought for a moment, and then Chad told Ida, "We'll get back to you."

"I'm not going anywhere," she replied. "But just keep in mind I won't duel any of you..."

The group retreated back to the other end of the Stone Arch Bridge, where they'd parked their car, and Chad said, "Who knew a Darkness Infected could refuse a challenge?"

"They probably altered her so that she could," Laura theorized. "Either that or her prejudice was powerful enough to outweigh the Darkness Infection. Either way, we're in trouble."

Gerald nodded. "We need the vision, but we can't get it. This is why the note said 'Bring a friend'. I wonder if Vivienne would be interested?"

"Lucifer would never allow it." Chad shook his head. "He would set us all on fire before he would ever let his daughter duel a Darkness Infected, and I can understand why. But that still leaves us with nothing."

"And aside from me, she's the only female duelist we know who's on our side," Laura concluded. "You know, our entire time here we've seen six female duelists, not counting me, and about twenty male duelists. This game really is male-dominated, isn't it?"

Even as he nodded, Gerald was thinking to himself. He then snapped his fingers and said, "Wait here... I think I know someone who can help us." Without any further explanation, he walked away.

Half an hour later, Ida was paging through a magazine she'd retrieved from under her breastplate, Chad was sitting on the hood with his eyes closed, and Laura was stretching. The sound of shoes on pavement caused all three to look down the street.

A girl with long brown hair walked up to them, smiling shyly. She was only slightly shorter than Chad, and she wore a long yellow dress with full sleeves and white gloves. There was a Duel Disk on one of her arms, a purse was slung over the other shoulder, and she kept her hands clasped in front of her.

"Hello," the girl introduced herself, blushing slightly. "My name is Dita... Gerald told me you could use some help." She blushed a little deeper. "We knew each other a while back, and I still owed him a favor."

Laura tilted her head, thinking, _Weird. She seems familiar somehow. Well, other than looking like Daisy from the Mario series._

_My goodness, she looks like the Maiden in Love,_ Chad thought. He then shook his head and asked her, "You know the risks?"

Dita nodded, looking to Ida. "I'm pretty sure I can win. She might have won the Citywide Special, but I placed pretty high, too. Now..." She walked onto the bridge, smiled to Ida, and held up her Duel Disk. "Am I an acceptable challenge, Miss Hoyle?"

Blinking, the Darkness Infected looked her opponent over, thinking, I don't recall seeing her in the Citywide... She then smiled back and activated her Duel Disk. "Finally, someone I can duel. Let's go!"

"Yes," Dita replied as she retrieved her deck from her purse and slid it into place. Both Life Point counters set themselves at 8,000.

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, three people were watching the mirrors this time- Degas in his chair, Alexander in his, and Bethany seated on Alexander's lap. The Hand of Darkness was in no mood to object, as he was on the phone and receiving some unsettling news.

"He's already left?" Degas said. "Any clues as to where he went?" There was a pause. "I see. That matches what I know about him. Leave him to his work, but if the situation starts to move out of control contact me immediately." He hung up and pushed the phone away, frowning.

"What did Hanzaki say?" Alexander asked.

The man in black replied, "The Pillar of Death is fully recovered and on the move. He's in Bloomington at the moment, but if Hanzaki's analysis is correct, he may leave at any moment."

Bethany looked down to Alexander, murmuring, "Which one was he again?" The man in green whispered into her ear, and she gulped, curling tighter against him.

"Relax, my Bethany," Alexander said to her. "I won't allow him to so much as touch you." He then looked to the mirrors and addressed Degas: "Are you sure that it's wise to tempt fate like this?"

"I assure you," Degas replied, "regardless of how much information the Light gives them, it will do them no good against the Pillar of Death. I can only wonder where they found Dita, however - not everyone was hit by the Infection, but why would she risk fate like that?"

Alexander suddenly giggled, causing Degas to glare at him. "You'll see," the Dark Conduit said.

Rolling his eyes, the Hand of Darkness closed them and concentrated.

**0000000**

Before the duel could start, Ida heard Degas's voice inside her head, asking, _Are they in your deck?_

_All five of them,_ Ida thought back. _The Card of Night I can understand, and it helps a lot with this deck, but why did you give me the other four cards? They don't even fit my theme! They're not even the same type!_

_Consider it an experiment. Those cards took a lot of magic experimentation to work out. Besides, you have to admit they're powerful._

_Powerful or not, there's only so far you can stretch a deck off-theme._

_Silence, _Degas thought with a stern tone. _You're using those cards and there will be no argument. Now get to it._ And he went silent.

Dita and Ida both drew their opening hands, and Dita paused for a moment, carefully studying her cards. "I'll begin," she said, "and I'll start with a monster facedown and two cards behind it." The three-card layout appeared before her, and she added, "I'll end my turn."

"Standard opening," Chad commented. "We can't predict her deck theme yet."

Noting this as well, Ida drew her first card and promptly played another, declaring, "I summon my Element Valkyrie in Attack Mode!"

A flame lit at the center of the armored woman's field, slowly expanding into a circle of fire. It lifted off the ground, and the river beneath them swelled up, two columns of water launching up over the rails. The water landed in the center of the fire, and the flames wrapped around it. From the mix came a woman in red armor, bearing a short sword in one hand. (1,500/1,000)

Laura blinked, and then said to Chad, "The last time I saw that card, its owner was running an Alchemy Deck. But I don't see that working with Ida's personality, do you?"

"Far from it," Chad replied. "But this is a Darkness Infected - she may be playing that deck due to orders."

_Actually, I have other reasons for that card,_ Ida thought. _Now, to begin the onslaught... _"Element Valkyrie," she ordered, "attack Dita's facedown monster with Burning Steam Slash!"

The sword in the Element Valkyrie's hand glowed white-hot, and she threw herself forward, drawing her blade back as a cloud of steam followed her.

"I counter with Enemy Controller," Dita quietly countered, her card lifting up. "I could take over Element Valkyrie, but I have other plans for my facedown monster. Therefore, I will use the second effect."

The girl held up one hand, and the odd-shaped controller landed in it, a cord stretching out to the Element Valkyrie and pausing her where she stood.

Smiling, Dita tapped at the buttons, whispering to herself, "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, and... Start." Electricty shot along the cord and the Element Valkyrie knelt as the girl explained, "With this effect, I switch your Element Valkyrie to Defense Mode. Anything else?"

Ida scowled, tucking a card from her Duel Disk into her hand. "I set this facedown and end my turn."

Chad laughed, causing Laura to glance at him. He shrugged and said, "I just never thought anyone would do the Konami Code on Enemy Controller before."

With a nod, Dita threw the controller away and drew her next card. "Now I'll activate my facedown card, Micro Ray," she began.

As Dita's card lifted up, a mechanical contraption rose into view. At first it looked like a metal cylinder on a small square base, but it slowly unfolded, rising up and back until it towered over both duelists. There was a small red button on a console in front of its player.

"Through the use of scientific principles I don't quite get," Dita continued, flipping a switch under the button, "Micro Ray will reduce the Defense Points of Element Valkyrie to zero for the rest of the turn. I don't think she's going to like this next part."

She pressed the button, and rings of energy fired out from the ray, covering the Element Valkyrie. She slowly shriveled down, reducing to about the size of a Kuriboh, and began to yell in a squeaky voice. (1,500/1,000 - 1,500/0)

"Now," Dita went on, "I will flip my facedown monster into Attack Mode - Poison Draw Frog."

Without any real flourish, the facedown card disappeared, replaced by a small, light brown frog. It cracked at something small and unseen in the air with its disproportionately long tongue, but judging from its expression, it had missed. Given that it was a frog, though, its expression never really changed. (100/100)

"Poison Draw Frog, attack the Element Valkyrie," the girl ordered now.

The frog never even began to move, however, as Ida let out a shout of, "I activate Loge's Flame!"

A blue fire lit on the end of the Element Valkyrie's sword, and she upended it, burying it in the bridge. The ground shook, and Chad and Laura exchanged looks before a massive sheet of blue flames shot up directly between the duelists. The Poison Draw Frog sprang backwards in shock, a croak passing through its lips.

"Loge's Flame is a Continuous Trap that prevents monsters of less than 2,000 Attack Points from passing through it," Ida said. "This affects me as much as it does you, of course, but I have ways around it. You, on the other hand, likely don't."

Frowning, Dita sighed and said, "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." The facedown monster appeared next to the Poison Draw Frog. Meanwhile, the Element Valkyrie grew back to normal size, adjusting her armor and taking a few deep breaths. (1,500/0 - 1,500/1,000)

Laura frowned, humming for a second. "Where have I seen Loge's Flame before?" she thought aloud.

Ida drew, her hand now consisting of five cards, and smirked. "I play Brain Control to take over your froggy!" she announced. Her Life Points sank to 7,200.

Two bony-fingered hands appeared on either sides of the Poison Draw Frog's head, and electricity crackled between them. The amphibian gave a startled croak, and then its eyes glazed over. It hopped onto Ida's field, the hands still flanking its head.

"Now," Ida said, pausing for a moment to soak up the tension, "I sacrifice the Poison Draw Frog to summon.one of Odin's handmaidens... Behold Valkyrie Zweite!"

Laura's fist smacked into her palm as she cried out, "I remember now... Oh, _crap!_"

"Hmmm?" Chad said, startled. "You've seen this before?"

"Remember the KC Grand Prix?"

The taller man's face paled. "Ah, yes... Ziegfried von Schroder. I was wondering when those cards would cross the Atlantic."

The clouds parted, and a winged horse galloped down from the sky. On its back there sat an armored woman, wielding a sword in one hand and glaring down on the earth below her. She bore a remarkable resemblance to Ida, but whereas the duelist had blonde hair, Zweite's hair was light pink. (1,600/1,600)

Ida continued, "As per Poison Draw Frog's effect, since it went to the Graveyard, I draw a card..." She did so. "And due to Valkyrie Zweite's effect, since I summoned her, she will now destroy your facedown monster. Get it!"

The winged horse reared up, and the Valkyrie raised her blade, bringing it down in a high arc. A slash crossed Dita's facedown monster, and it was briefly revealed to be a robotic dog of small stature, looking much like a robot of the Outstanding Dog Marron. (1,000/1,000) It exploded, and a jolt of electricty fired out from the blast zone, zapping Ida. The electricity arced across her armor, and she cried out.

"Bad idea," Dita said, smiling. "You killed the Mecha Dog Marron, and when it's destroyed outside of battle, its killer loses 1,000 Life Points. Just a little failsafe feature in the new models."

Smoke rose from Ida's skin, and she coughed as her Life Points hit 6,200. "Good move," she conceded, a spark flicking out from her helmet. "Now, my Loge's Flame is still pinning us both down, and Zweite's not strong enough to cross it..."

The Valkyrie seemed surprised to hear that, and she shook her horse's reins, guiding it forward. Blue fire sprang up before her, and she pulled back, eyes wide. She then turned to her player and nodded.

"...so my turn ends here," Ida concluded.

Dita drew a card, took one from her hand, and said, "I play Heart of the Underdog." Said card appeared in front of her.

"I remember that one," Laura noted. "Gerald's dad used it against him."

"Now..." Dita twisted a lock of her hair around her finger for a moment, and then played another card. "I summon Skull Dog Marron in Attack Mode."

A pile of bones fell from the sky, landing in front of Dita. A collar fell last, with the word "Marron" on it. The bones slowly pulled themselves into a dog skeleton, the collar around the base of the skull. It looked longingly at Ida, who grimaced. (1,350/2,000)

Chad tilted his head, noting, "Even without Loge's Flames, that monster would be worthless on the attack."

Shaking her head at Chad, Dita held up another card, continuing, "This is why I have Rush Recklessly. I'll play it on Marron, and..."

A burst of energy outlined the bones, which now shook and rattled as the dog let out an unearthly bark. (1,350/2,000 - 2,050/2,000)

"Skull Dog Marron," the shy girl ordered, "destroy Element Valkyrie with Abandonment Avenger."

The skeletal dog let out another bark, and then broke into its component bones. They flew up to the Element Valkyrie, whirling her about and lifting her into the air. Soon the bones pressed inward, crushing the valkyrie until she exploded into shards. That done, the bones flew back to Dita's field and reformed into the Skull Dog Marron, which barked again.

_Urgh... _Ida thought. _My monster just got killed by Hachiko._

"I end my turn with that," Dita concluded. She then thought, _As weak as Skull Dog Marron is, Loge's Flames should protect it for the time being..._

Drawing another card, Ida paused, her eyes narrowing. She held the draw up, her eyes running over the text again, and then sighed before slipping it into her Duel Disk. "Degas and Alexander insist, so... I activate my Card of Night, Crusade of Sacrilege!"

In turn, Chad, Laura, and Dita swallowed hard.

The card flashed into being in front of the armored woman, its picture showing hideous men in bloody armor smashing a bejeweled goblet with clubs. Overhead, the skies turned black as clouds rolled in, lightning flashing between them. Inhuman figures prowled on the other side of the bridge, and banners with abhorrent designs lifted into place on either side of Ida. Valkyrie Zweite herself began to tremble.

"Let me explain," Ida began. "This Card of Night is, like all of them, a two-edged sword. I can use it to build a mighty army, but its only purpose is the finding and destruction of holy relics, so every last one of us is damned. In game terms, I can make as many Tribute Summons as I want to each turn, and every time I deal Battle Damage, Dita will have to discard a card from her hand." She gave her opponent a savage grin. "And any cards discarded from your hand, at _any_ time, are removed from the game."

"And the dark cost?" Laura asked.

"If the Crusade of Sacrilege is destroyed, I have to pay for all the relics I've destroyed... with one of my limbs. I won't know which one until it happens, but when it does, I lose a limb _permanently_."

Chad winced. "Ouch. Alexander must not like you."

Ida shrugged, playing another card. "I'm not going to dwell on it," she said. "Now I'll play Valkyrie's Embrace. By switching a Valkyrie to Defense Mode, I can destroy one of Dita's monsters."

Spurring her horse, Valkyrie Zweite leapt over Loge's Flames, her horse's hooves clipping the fire. She landed next to the Skull Dog Marron, slid off of the horse, and hugged the skeletal dog to her. Her grip tightened, and the dog shattered into little fragments of bone. She then turned, trotted back to Ida's field, and knelt the horse as she switched to the defense.

"Now," Ida continued, "I'll sacrifice Valkyrie Zweite for another one of Odin's favorite servants, the Valkyrie Yuuki!"

Light fell over Valkyrie Zweite, and she vanished into the beam. In her place rode down another armored woman, also riding a winged horse. This one looked a lot like Zweite, but didn't look quite so stern, and her hair was a golden blonde instead of pink. She also carried a large hammer instead of a sword. (1,600/1,000)

Chad broke out laughing, causing everyone to stare at him. After a few moment's more of snorting, he shook his head and said, "You wouldn't get it..."

Yuuki hefted her hammer, and energy spun around it. The ground at Dita's feet broke open, and bones flew up from that rift, including a familiar collar with "Marron" written on it. These bones and the collar flew around her, and she flexed her muscles, causing all the bones to evaporate into dust. The energy from her hammer covered her body, and her horse reared up, letting out a loud whinny as she readied her weapon. (1,600/1,000 - 2,950/1,800)

With a sigh, Laura explained, "When Valkyrie Yuuki is summoned, she can remove one of Dita's monsters from the Graveyard and add its Attack Points to her own score for the turn." She then paused, and added, "Although I don't recall Ziegfried using her... Chad, what on Earth is so funny?"

The artist straightened up, sighed in turn, and said, "It's a personal joke."

Dita sighed as well, taking Skull Dog Marron out of her Graveyard and putting it into her purse.

"Thank you for the explanation," Ida said to Laura. She then turned back to her monster and shouted, "Valkyrie Yuuki, attack Dita directly! Valkyrie Smash!"

The Loge's Flames died down, and Yuuki tapped her hammer on the surface of the bridge. She then kicked her horse on the flanks and galloped forward, drawing her hammer back.

_I'm going to be in a lot of pain,_ Dita thought, and raised her purse in front of her. The hammer, being a hologram, passed right through it and struck her anyway, knocking her down with a loud thwack. Her Life Points dipped to 5,050 as she laid there, catching her breath. Dark marks could be seen on the backs of her hands, even through the gloves.

"Look on the bright side," Ida said, crossing her arms. "If you die in this battle, you're guaranteed a trip to Valhalla."

As she stood back up, Dita muttered, "Actually, since I'm a girl, I wouldn't go to Valhalla... Women slain in battle went to Sessrumnir, Freya's hall."

The armored woman slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, right..." She then shook her head and added, "Don't forget, due to Crusade of Sacrilege, you lose the last card in your hand!"

Dita nodded and slid the card into her purse without complaint.

"I set a card facedown, and that ends my turn," Ida concluded. The Valkyrie Yuuki sighed, the energy on her body fading away. (2,950/1,800 - 1,600/1,800)

As Dita drew, she noted, "Now I get that card back..."

"That's not how this game works," Ida protested. "You don't just get cards back from the Removed from Play pile..." She blinked, and then slapped her forehead again. "Of course. All the cards in the game, and the one I remove is..."

"Card from a Different Dimension," Dita confirmed. The card blinked into existence in Dita's hand, and both duelists heard a beep from their Duel Disks. They reached down, and both drew two cards. Studying her new acquisitions, Dita took one and said, "I play Graceful Charity."

As usual, the clouds parted, and an angel descended from above. She waved a hand over Dita's deck, and three cards launched themselves partway out. The girl drew them into her hand, took two cards, and handed them to the angel. Crusade of Sacrilege glowed, and the angel exploded into a demon, which laughed and vanished.

Laura shuddered - the demon had looked far too much like Glasya the Duchess of Desire for her comfort.

"So what did you discard?" Ida asked as her opponent tucked the cards into her purse.

Dita shrugged, replying, "They're removed from the game anyway, what does it matter? Either way, I now play Different Dimension Capsule." The capsule appeared, and Dita took a card from her deck, tossing it into the open capsule. Said capsule sealed shut and faded away. "In two turns, I'll get to add that card to my hand. But that said, I set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." The monster appeared as she said it.

Ida drew her hand to six cards, thinking, _If I hit Dita's Life Points, the Card from a Different Dimension could get removed from play again.. and that would just make her day, wouldn't it? I'm not sure what she's trying to do, but giving the drawing tools she's used so far, there's only one real answer... _"I begin my turn with Pot of Charity, removing my Element Valkyrie from the game to draw three cards!"

"Everyone's got that card anymore," Chad muttered.

Laura looked at him and said, "I don't."

"Yes, but all your monsters are Earth, Wind, or Dark. You couldn't use it if you had it."

As always, the attractive cousin of the Pot of Greed faded into being, the Element Valkyrie's spirit sitting atop it. The pot shook, the valkyrie fell into it, and the whole mess shattered, whereupon Ida drew thrice, folding out the nine cards in her hand. She then announced, "I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon and chain my Dust Tornado to it! Going in reverse, the Dust Tornado will destroy your Different Dimension Capsule..."

"And the Mystical Space Typhoon will destroy my Heart of the Underdog?" Dita asked.

In response to that, Ida just chuckled. "It will destroy my own Loge's Flame!"

_Well, all it was doing was pinning her down, _Laura thought. _You can't always draw Emergency Provisions when you need it..._

Two separate windstorms came up, the air over the bridge being drawn down and around the two Magic and Trap cards. One was comprised of dust and grit, and slowly encircled the Different Dimension Capsule, grinding away at it. Pieces of the capsule soon broke off and flew off into the sky. The other windstorm was quick and invisible, and it blew the Loge's Flame card to fragments.

But as the fire died, a burst of light came from the ground. There was a loud whinney, and a winged horse flew up into the sky, yet another armored woman upon its back. This one resembled the other two Valkyries that Ida had summoned, but she had a much more noble bearing, and her hair was a deep, rich blue. She let out a battlecry, clashing sword against shield and thrusting her weapon skyward. The shadows from the Crusade of Sacrilege backed away, nervous. (1,800/2,000)

Dita sighed, murmuring, "Ah, yes. In the tales of the Ring of Nibelung, the Valkyrie Brunhilde was trapped within a circle of fire. But as I recall, her rescue was part of what caused her death..."

"This time, however, she won't wind up marrying the wrong man!" Ida countered. "When Loge's Flame is destroyed, I can Special Summon this monster, the Valkyrie Brunhilde herself!" She threw another card from her hand into her Duel Disk, shouting, "And now it's time to bring down all the wrath of Valhalla! I play the Magic Card called Ride of the Valkyries!"

And then something quite strange happened - her Duel Disk flickered, and a quite melodious tune began to play. It was one of the most familiar pieces of classical music in the world.

Dita, Chad, and Laura all swallowed heavily, and Chad asked, with a nervous quiver in his voice, "Okay... does anybody know a video game character with Wagner on their soundtrack?"

"Not that I can name," Laura said, just as nervous, "but then I'm not big into video games..."

"Relax," Ida finally said, shaking her head. "When I play Ride of the Valkyries, the Duel Disk plays Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' from the Nibelung Cycle suite. It also lets me Special Summon as many Valkyries as I wish from my hand." She took three cards in turn from her hand and threw them onto her Duel Disk as the music swelled.

_Wait... Ring of Nibelung is another one of Ziegfried's cards,_ Laura thought. _And if Dita's deck is what I think it is, that card would tear it apart... But does Ida have it?_

The dark clouds opened up, and rays of light fell on the eerie battleground, contrasting harshly with Ida's Card of Night. A bridge made of rainbow light came into being, and three valkyries rode upon it, shaking the reins of their winged mounts as the rainbow shook from impact. The one at the head of the group was Valkyrie Yuuki, looking identical to the one already in play, but the ones behind her were new - both were smaller than Yuuki or Brunhilde, and red hair streamed after them.

All three valkyries rode up onto Ida's field, drawing their swords and crossing them with the valkyries already there. The Card of Night seemed to fade away for a moment as they saluted each other.

"You already know Valkyrie Yuuki, but the redheads are both Valkyrie Dritte!" Ida explained.

Both of the red-haired valkyries bowed in harness. (1,000/1,600 x2)

Letting out a deep, loud sigh, Laura confessed, "Guys, I have to say it... without their different hair colors, I'd never tell the valkyries apart."

"Don't be ashamed, it's a common problem," Ida replied. "Their abilities help with identification, too... First, my new Yuuki will absorb Dita's Poison Draw Frog, and then both Drittes will gain 100 Attack Points for each monster removed from play. With the Poison Draw Frog, that's five, because both of Dita's discards for Graceful Charity were monsters."

Dita shook her head, sighing again. "Six... The card in my Different Dimension Capsule was a monster, too."

The little red frog rose from Dita's field, and Yuuki shot it a look of distaste before turning it to energy. She took it in, giving a slight huff. (1,600/1,600 - 1,700/1,600) The Drittes, meanwhile, stretched out their hands, calling down a rainbow-colored energy and absorbing it. Both smiled, their muscles bulging. (1,000/1,600 x2 - 1,600/1,600 x2)

With a nod to her monsters, the armored woman ordered, "Stronger Valkyrie Yuuki, destroy Dita's facedown monster!"

After a smirk at being called "stronger", the valkyrie thus addressed charged forward, bringing her hammer down hard on the targeted monster. It appeared as a small, brown dog, and let out a loud yelp before shattering.

"That was the Outstanding Dog Marron," Dita noted, "and it goes back into my deck when slain." She shuffled the monster back into her deck, sighing again.

"And now you've got nothing!" Ida yelled in triumph. "Brunhilde, direct attack! Odin's Embodied Wrath!"

Readying her blade, Brunhilda spurred her horse and charged ahead, head down as its hooves struck sparks on the bridge. She rode up to Dita and drew her blade back, electricity arcing between them... but as she brought it down, a tiny ball of fur got in the way. The valkyrie glared and tried to strike again, only to hit another ball of fur. The Kuribohs gathered around her, and she finally gave up and rode away.

Dita held up her Kuriboh card, and then slid it into her purse as Crusade of Sacrilege glowed. All of the Kuribohs turned black and melted away as the Card of Night went to work.

Both of the Drittes held up their hands, drawing in a little more rainbow energy as they sighed happily. (1,600/1,600 - 1,700/1,600 x2)

"Kuriboh was removed from the game, so this duel is almost over!" Ida yelled. "Weaker Yuuki, Drittes, attack Dita directly!"

Laura shut her eyes, did some mental math, and then shuddered, saying, "That will leave her with only a handful of Life Points..."

"She had no choice," Chad said, frowning. "If she hadn't stopped Ida's attack, she would have lost this turn anyway."

The remaining valkyries crossed their weapons and spurred their mounts, taking to the air. They rode around Dita, their hooves marking a circle around the girl, and then Yuuki swooped down and smashed her in the back, making her cry out as her Life Points hit 3,450. The first Dritte now stabbed her in the stomach, leaving her with 1,750 Life Points, and the other Dritte rammed her sword through Dita's chest, dropping her Life Points to a pitiful fifty Life Points. The valkyries rode away and settled in front of Ida, crying out in victory.

Adding to the pain, Crusade of Sacrilege glowed, and Dita groaned as she dropped the last cards in her hand into her purse before falling to one knee. Her pupils disappeared, and the veins in her eyes turned black as black marks rose up on her neck.

Ida smiled and said, "I move into my Main Phase 2. Now, Ride of the Valkyries will return the valkyries I summoned with it back to my deck at the turn's end, but thanks to my Crusade of Sacrilege, I can make better use of them." She took two cards from her hand. "I begin by sacrificing the two Drittes for a monster in facedown Defense Mode..."

The Crusade of Sacrilege glowed, and the two Drittes fell from their horses, melting into black energy which itself became a facedown monster.

"And I sacrifice my newer Yuuki for Fortune Chariot," Ida concluded, "which I'll Union with Valkyrie Brunhilde. We'll discuss what that does next round."

Yuuki grabbed at her chest and fell from her mount now, both turning into dark energy. The energy swirled about and formed a chariot, pulled by two magnificent brown horses. (1,000/1,000) Leaping from her own horse, Brunhilde landed on the chariot, taking its reins.

"That will be my turn," the armored duelist said. _And next round,_ she thought, _I'll use that chariot to knock this girl down. Maybe then the Darkness will keep our deal... _She ran the back of her hand down her side. _A pity that I had to remove Card from a Different Dimension again, but the extra draws can't hurt._

A moment passed before Dita stood up, drawing her next card. "Card from a Different Dimension now comes back to my hand," she began. The card appeared, and both duelists drew twice. "And during my Draw Phase, I drew a Normal Monster, so Heart of the Underdog now activates." She turned her drawn card around.

It was the Left Arm of the Forbidden One.

"An Exodia deck?" Chad said in disbelief. "How can she expect to win with it now? I'm almost certain she used the Different Dimension Capsule on the head, and that's out in the Different Dimension for good now!"

"I have my ways," the brown-haired girl told him as she drew again. She took that card and showed it to Ida - the Right Arm of the Forbidden One. Drawing again, she shook her head. "This one doesn't count for Heart of the Underdog. Now I play Pot of Greed..."

The ghastly-looking jar rose in front of Dita, and she drew twice. She then paused, staring at one of the cards she'd drawn. Her eyes flicked back and forth from Ida to the Crusade of Sacrilege and back, moving faster with each flick.

"Oh, just play it, already!" Ida yelled. "Don't waste my time being nitpicky!"

Letting out a massive sigh, the girl replied, "I'm so very sorry I have to do this, but that Card of Night will ruin my plans if it's still around in a few turns. For that reason, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your Crusade of Sacrilege." She lowered her head. "Forgive me if you can."

The bridge shook, and the debris and dirt of the battlefield flew off into the sky as another storm struck the field. The shadowy figures faded, and the dark clouds began to part just before the Crusade of Sacrilege card exploded into a thousand rectangles.

At first, nothing seemed to happen to Ida, short of her considerable sweating. And then her left arm exploded into black blobs of goo, which splattered to the ground and evaporated. She screamed and fell to her knees, her Duel Disk clattering beside her as she clutched her shoulder. There was no evidence left that she had ever had a left arm to begin with.

Dita shook her head, murmuring, "I'm so very sorry..."

But as Ida rose onto one knee, something else happened that threw off everyone's perception. The breastplate, one of its straps now loose, slid off of her shoulder... and her entire bosom went askew. She saw this, and tried to correct it with her right hand, but it just made things worse.

All three of the non-Darkness Infected there stared at this, their mouths dry. Finally, Laura blinked, swallowed, and said, "You're a _guy?_"

Glaring at them, Ida finally gave up and yelled back, "Who are _you_ to judge me?" Her voice had not changed, but now that there was other evidence to the armored woman's real gender, it seemed somewhat more masculine. "Ever since I started playing Duel Monsters, I've dressed like this... it just makes me more comfortable. And if I take you down, Degas and Alexander have said I can stop pretending - they'll turn me into an actual woman, not one of those surgical fakes!"

Chad hid a smile behind his hand, saying to Laura, "I have to say, knowing he's a crossdresser gives his deck a rather disturbing edge to it."

"I'm still thinking of him as a woman," Laura replied. "Is that wrong?"

"Not really, just remember there's a guy under the armor."

Dita shook her head again, saying as she took up another card, "I will not cast judgment on you, but do not expect leniency just because you're a woman trapped in a man's body. Now, since I have more than five cards removed from play, I will use my Miracle Dig to bring three of them back to my Graveyard. I think you know which ones?"

Three crude holes ripped open in the air around Dita, and the head and legs of Exodia passed out of them, falling into a hole in the ground that had opened at the same time.

"Now," she continued, "I play Spell Reproduction. By discarding two Magic Cards from my hand, I can replay a Magic Card from my Graveyard." She picked out two cards, explaining, "Pot of Avarice would merely ruin my planning, and Card from a Different Dimension is unreliable without your Crusade of Sacrilege, so I'll discard them to replay Graceful Charity."

Dita tossed the cards into her Graveyard, and the angel rose from a crack in the bridge, shivering as she ascended. She gave Dita three cards, and Dita handed over two of them (which were tilted enough for the observers to see that they were the arms of Exodia). That done, the angel sank back into the Graveyard.

Giving her Graveyard one last check, Dita took another card out of her hand. "Now... I often wonder why Exodia decks carry this card. It seems like too much of a last-ditch effort to me, like an admittance you cannot win by the usual methods. Nonetheless, it works, and at the moment it may be all that saves my life. I activate the Magic Card named Contract with Exodia."

"Do you know that card?" Laura asked Chad.

The tall man swallowed and replied, "Only by rumor. The Contract was only printed for public use about six months ago... and they say only 500 copies circulated. I see she has one, but I don't know what it does."

The skies grew cloudy again, and five tombstones pushed their way up from the bridge around Dita. Each one bore the image of a piece of Exodia: the legs were behind her, the arms were at either of her sides, and the head stood in front of her. The tombstones began to shake, and the ground in front of them cracked open. Five streams of dust rose up from them and mingled over Dita's head...

"I have no idea who wrote the Contract," Dita explained. "Nor do I know what the terms were or how they were fulfilled. All I know is that when all five pieces of the Forbidden One are in my Graveyard, this contract allows me to summon forth Exodia's darker side... Exodia Necross."

Over her head, the dust disappeared, and a being tainted with the very essence of death stepped in front of Dita. It towered over both duelists, its shadow completely obscuring Ida as she shuddered. Despite its obvious resemblence to Exodia, this monster had traded in its counterpart's regal bearing for the mark of the grave - jet-black skin, lined with cracks, covered its surface, and its face was practically a skull. It struck at its chest with both fists...

...and then sank to one knee, crossing its arms before it. (1,800/0)

Ida blinked, adjusting her helmet (judging from how her hair shifted, it was a wig). "Wait... you summoned that behemoth in _Defense_ Mode?" the crossdresser asked. "What good will that do you?"

"Plenty," Dita answered. "Exodia Necross is already dead, and as such cannot die again. It can't die in battle, and Magic and Trap cards cannot destroy it. It makes a perfect shield. Now..." She slid a card into her Duel Disk, saying, "I end my turn with this facedown."

_And now,_ Chad thought, _we get the answer to the eternal question - namely, how do you duel with only one arm?_

By this point, Ida had adjusted herself into a half-sitting, half-kneeling position. (Despite the truth, the other three still thought of the crossdresser in terms of feminine pronouns.) She set her cards on the ground and tugged the Duel Disk onto her lap, pinning it with her knees. She drew a card, setting it next to the rest of her hand on the ground.

_It's awkward, but it works_, Dita thought.

"I might be a man in woman's armor," Ida said, taking a few deep breaths, "and I might be missing an arm, but I won't lose this duel... By cutting Brunhilda's Attack Points in half while she's riding in the Fortune Chariot, I can attack directly! Brunhilde! Finish her off!"

The Valkyrie Brunhilde picked up the reins of the chariot, wincing as they cut into her hands. (1,800/2,000 - 900/2,000) She then let out a shout, and the chariot charged at Dita, flying directly over the head of Exodia Necross...

A wall of spirits shot up between Dita and the chariot, and Brunhilde was thrown from it, bouncing off the streets with a loud clang. After a few seconds of dazed confusion, she rose to her feet, staggering back to Ida's field with the Fortune Chariot in tow.

"Do you think I'm a fool, Ida?" Dita said, waving a finger at her opponent. "Direct attacks are one of the banes of Exodia Necross, so any deck using it has to be able to get around that. Spirit Barrier is one such way."

Grunting, Ida muttered, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn..." She picked up the two cards one at a time and forced them into the Duel Disk.

Laura now took her turn at thinking about the battle, pondering, _I wonder how Gerald would deal with this situation. Spirit Barrier is one of those cards that would shut him down. _She then blinked and wondered, _Say, where did he get off to?_ "Hey, Dita," she asked aloud, "If Gerald sent you here, why didn't he come back with you?"

"I asked him to keep an eye on my job while I was out," Dita replied. She then drew her next card, noting, "During my Standby Phase, Exodia Necross gains 500 Attack Points."

The already gigantic creature swelled further, loud cracking noises filling the air as the stress of additional muscle twisted its bones. (1,800/0 - 2,300/0)

Frowning at the one card in her hand, Dita said, "I'll set this facedown and end the turn." Her card appeared before her.

Drawing another card, the armored would-be-woman took a deep breath to steady her nerves. _All right... Ida..._ Remembering her alias calmed the Darkness Infection somewhat. _You survived one brush with dark magic, you can survive another_. "I activate my facedown card," she declared. "It's not a Card of Night, but not for lack of trying - go, Pyramid of Light!"

"Pyramid of what?" Dita whispered, raising an eyebrow.

A single spark of light appeared in the sky between the duelists. It drew four lines down to the earth between them, forming a square of light on the ground. Blue sheets of energy cascaded between the lines, forming a shining blue pyramid. Something was wrong, however - whereas most of the light Chad and Laura had seen carried a comforting aura with it, there was a feeling of pain and anger within this pyramid.

While the Pyramid settled into place, Brunhilda panicked and rode away from it, settling on the other side of Ida's field.

"This isn't the Light," Chad muttered. "This is Darkness masquerading as Light... The Light of Ruin..."

**0000000**

"Good guess, Mr. Montmelier, and correct as far as it goes," Degas said to the mirror, allowing himself a smirk. "But in truth, during its first incarnation, it was Shadows masquerading as Light. You see, Alexander and Bethany, the Pyramid of Light was designed by a powerful being born in Tenebreos - the Shadow Realm, as some call it - named Anubis. He actually invented it to seal the Egyptian Gods."

Alexander blinked, and then smirked as well. "So this is a weapon designed to combat Yugi Motoh. Pitted against an ordinary woman, it should do quite well."

"But if it's Shadows, how is a Darkness Infected using it?" Bethany asked, lifting her head from Alexander's chest.

"That," Degas said in response, "was actually an easy matter. Unlike our spell to summon video game characters, we did not have to change any of the functions of the Pyramid. All we needed to do was change the source of energy it drew power from. That done, we could utilize it with no further difficulty. A shame it's in the hands of a transvestite, but a Darkness Infected is a Darkness Infected."

As they turned back to the mirrors, the man in green asked his partner, "What became of Anubis, by the way?"

The man in black snorted. "He made the mistake of trying to use Seto Kaiba as a weapon against Yugi Motoh, and then betraying him. In other words, he fought against Yugi and Kaiba simultaneously. No amount of power protects against _that_ level of stupidity."

**0000000**

"So..." Dita swallowed hard before looking to her opponent. "What does this Pyramid of 'Light' do?"

"First of all," Ida said, "remember that facedown monster I made two sacrifices for? I'll switch it into Attack Mode now. Go, Androsphinx!"

The facedown card disappeared, and a roar split the evening air. Dita clapped her hands over her ears as the roar grew louder. Now a humanoid beast in blue armor stood on Ida's field. It had the head of a lion, with a thick mane of blonde hair and claws on its fingers, and it stood almost taller than Dita's Exodia Necross. (3,000/2,500)

"Next," the crossdresser continued, "I can pay 500 Life Points to the Pyramid of Light and Special Summon Androsphinx's female counterpart - Sphinx Tellia..."

Ida's Life Points dropped to 6,300. At the same time, a beam of light fell from the top of the Pyramid, and something began to come into being. It was a more traditional sphinx, the sort people saw when they thought of the creature - a monster with the body of a winged lion and the head of a beautiful woman, this one with crimson hair and a sly smile. She wore a manacle on one paw and a collar around her neck, however, and when she grinned, there were far more teeth there than she had any right to have. (2,500/3,000)

Chad blinked, and then groaned, shaking his head.

"What's wrong, Chad?" Laura asked.

"They're beasts. Very powerful beasts... Why the hell do they have to be Darkness?"

Studying them, Laura's eyes widened, and she said, "Chad, those things are Light."

"Card attributes don't count as far as the Balance goes," Chad replied. "Jean-Vic used Gradius. Menardi used the Cyber Dragons. Bethany used the Maiden in Love and Mokey Mokey. All of those are Light..."

Turning to her next facedown card, Ida activated it, declaring, "Those are both powerful monsters, but I need them to die. So I'll activate Two-Pronged Attack, sacrificing Androsphinx and Tellia to launch the attack on Exodia Necross!"

The two sphinxes roared in confusion, and then turned into raw light. This light flowed into a single, massive ball, which hurled itself at Necross. Exodia's undead revenant merely swatted the ball of light into the river, where it exploded.

"Did you forget that Necross is immune to death by trap?" Dita said, leaning forward over her Duel Disk.

Shaking her head, Ida answered, "Not at all. But here is the real trick - if Androsphnix and Sphinx Tellia are slain at the same time, 500 more Life Points will unleash the creature at the heart of the Pyramid of Light's power. Behold Theinen the Great Sphinx!"

The Life Point counter on Ida's Duel Disk clicked down to 5,800, and the front of the Pyramid of Light began to fade. From within, a sihoulette raised its head and turned towards the faded panel before moving. It emerged from the pyramid's center, looking for all the world like Androsphinx's upper body fused to Tellia's lower body. Raising its head, which had Tellia's face on its back, Theinen roared from both its mouths, the bridge shaking as it did so. (3,500/3,000)

"Now, attacking is pointless for now, so I'll end my turn," Ida said. "And before you even ask, playing this card wasn't my idea."

"Degas and Alexander?" Laura asked.

"Exactly." The crossdresser sighed, adjusting her breastplate with her intact hand.

_Light save me, _Dita prayed silently as she drew.

In front of her, Necross shook, its muscular structure bulging unnaturally as it grew ever stronger. Its eyes burned with an unnatural rage as it swelled, now only slightly smaller than Theinen. (2,300/0 - 2,800/0)

Dita's thoughts continued, _Now I could attack and destroy Brunhilda with Necross, but then Theinen would counterattack on Ida's next turn, and with fifty Life Points I can't take any chances at all. Especially if she summons another Zweite, because monster effects are Necross's only weakness..._ "I set a monster in Defense Mode," she said. "And that's all I can do."

Drawing again, Ida picked up the rest of her hand, comparing it with what she had out. The Pyramid of Light glowed slightly, and she took a few seconds to concentrate. "All right..." she finally began. "I play the Magic Card called Swan Maiden, which allows me to Special Summon any one Valkyrie from my hand. So meet another Valkyrie Zweite in Attack Mode!"

_Just as I thought,_ Dita thought, rolling her eyes.

Once again, an armored woman rode down from the sky on a winged horse. She had to veer out of the way of the Pyramid of Light, which flashed a brilliant white. She came down for a landing, panting. (1,600/1,600)

"I noticed that you didn't say Necross was immune to monster effects, so now I'll use Zweite's effect to destroy it!" the armored transvestite declared.

Zweite did not move from her spot - she refused to get anywhere near Exodia Necross. Instead, she pulled her sword back and threw it at the revenant. The sword slammed through its chest, sending pieces of black skin flying. Shaking, Necross sank onto one hand, exhaling a deep grey fog, before it exploded in a cloud of bone shards and dust.

"Drat," Dita muttered.

For the first time in a while, Ida smiled before ordering, "Theinen the Great Sphinx, attack her facedown monster! Roar of the Offering Fields!"

Raising its arms, Theinen opened both of its mouths and let out an incredible roar. The bridge shook so badly that Chad and Laura thought it might well collapse; the sound waves themselves were visible, it was so loud. A crack appeared in the bridge between the duelists...

...but the sound waves just bounced off an invisible barrier in front of Dita. "Negate Attack," she explained.

Shrugging her one intact shoulder, Ida said, "I'll end my turn."

Letting out a small yawn (Chad's eyebrows rose), Dita drew another card and held it up. "Most Exodia decks would never touch this card, but it works when you have most of the Forbidden One in your hand already," she said as she played her drawn card. "So... Card of Demise."

Five candles appeared in front of Dita, and she drew five cards as they lit up. She shrugged, playing another card. "I'll use Soul Release to remove two pieces of Exodia from my Graveyard - the Head and Left Leg." They appeared for a moment before vanishing. "And finally I'll set a card facedown. Your turn, Ida."

Blinking repeatedly, Chad rubbed his eyes, asking Laura, "Why did she do that?"

"Did you hear her yawn?" Laura said in return, ignoring his question. "Maybe I've hung around Gerald too long, but I keep thinking this duel is almost over."

After a moment, Ida snapped. "You've played the last four turns with just fifty Life Points!" she shouted. "You **will** die this turn! Theinen, crush his facedown monster with Roar of the Offering Fields!"

"In response," Dita said, "I activate Return from the Different Dimension. This will return as many monsters from my removed-from-play pile to play as I can. I'll bring back Exodia's head, his left leg, Skull Dog Marron and Poison Draw Frog in Defense Mode. And it only costs half my Life Points."

The air rippled on Dita's field, and the monsters thus named appeared in front of her as her Life Points dropped to a paltry 25. Exodia the Forbidden One was first, floating without its limbs. (1,000/1,000) Then came a manacled leg. (200/300) The skeletal dog was next. (1,350/2,000) And finally came the tiny red frog. (100/100)

"So?" Ida yelled. "That doesn't trigger a replay, so finish off the facedown monster, Theinan!"

Once again, the mighty sphinx roared, its voice cracking the bridge even further. The sound waves tore through Dita's facedown monster, revealed to be a tiny sword-wielding penguin. It dropped its weapon, trying to put its flippers over its ears before it exploded. (750/500)

"Penguin Soldier," Chad commented, smiling a little. "There's one I'm familiar with."

Dita nodded, saying, "As per its effect, I'll return Exodia's head and left leg to my hand." Both of the monsters named vanished in twin splashes of water, and she tucked the cards into her hand.

Snorting, the crossdressing duelist yelled, "Like that means anything with the rest of it in the Graveyard! Valkyrie Zweite, kill the Poison Draw Frog!"

The valkyrie never got the chance to move. Instead, the girl opposing her activated another facedown card, shaking her head. "I win. Activate Backup Soldier."

There was a long pause, and then Ida buried her face in her hand, whimpering, "But... but that lets you..."

"Return three Normal Monsters of less than 1,500 Attack Points to my hand from my Graveyard, yes. Which means I get back the other parts of Exodia and complete my win." She reached into her Graveyard and took out three specific cards...

...and a Spellbinding Circle came into being on her field. This one was far larger than the standard, but with good reason - because stuck on its surface was the immense figure of the Forbidden One himself. He stood chained to the circle, eyes burning with a need for freedom. And then he began to pull.

First the chain on his right arm broke, and then the chain on the left Exodia flexed his freed arms and bent forward, yanking on the chains around his feet. They snapped with only the slightest exertion of force, and he straightened up, landing on the ground below. With one mighty backhand, he shattered the Spellbinding Circle before turning to glare at Ida.

"That's the most roundabout Exodia victory I've seen in years," Chad murmured.

"Don't knock it," Laura said. "A victory is a victory."

And with a slight yawn, Dita ordered, "Exodia... **_obliterate_**."

The Forbidden One rose his hands to the sky, drawing in power from the sky above. The clouds roiled overhead, and he clenched his fists, light surrounding them. This light grew greater and brighter, and the bridge again shook under the duelists, until he lowered his hands and stared between them.

And then he fired a single, massive beam of power. It tore through Theinen, reducing the Great Sphinx to ashes in seconds. It blew away the Fortune Chariot, scattering it as splinters across the ground, and incinerated both valkyries. It shattered the Pyramid of Light into ten thousand fragments, hurling them into the river below. And it picked up Ida, carrying her on its forefront and hurling her across the bridge entirely. She struck the ground, bounced, and rolled to a stop, leaving her breastplate behind, as her Life Points hit zero immediately.

A few seconds passed, during which what was left of the holograms faded, and then the unconscious Ida convulsed as the Darkness Infection vanished from her body. Everyone exhaled.

"Now that that's done..." Dita shut off her Duel Disk, tucked her deck back into her purse, and moved up to Chad, a smile across her face. "We need to talk, big man."

Chad broke into a sweat, inching away from Dita as she approached him. "Ummm... about what?" he asked.

"Oh, come on. Don't act like you don't know..." She curved towards him, causing the artist to fall back.

Rubbing one of her eyes, Laura said, "Wait... you two know each other?"

"I've never seen her before in my life!" Chad yelled back, nearly stumbling over a piece of debris.

Frowning, Dita moved her face closer to Chad. He bent backwards to avoid it, and she glared down at him. "You're going to keep acting like we've never met?"

"Well..." Stammering for a moment, he caught his breath before saying, "We really haven't..."

"Please... Don't tell me I have to..." And then, to the shock of both Chad and Laura, Dita's voice dropped several octaves. "...start talking like this again..."

Absolute silence ruled, before Laura muttered, "Oh, my God..." She paused, blinked, and said, "_Gerald?_"

Moving a step back, the "girl" took hold of "her" hair and lifted it up, revealing a bald cap. "She" took hold of this and peeled it away, revealing a shorter brown hairstyle. With a good shake and a mild slouch, "Dita" was Gerald Laxina once again. "What I do for the Light..." he said, sighing.

As he straightened up, Chad couldn't resist a glance to Ida, who without the breastplate wasn't quite so feminine-looking. He then glanced back to Gerald, still in the yellow dress, and thought, _Wait... they were both crossdressing?_ He shuddered. _I feel so dirty!_

"So what were you really going for when you left us?" Laura asked, holding back a laugh.

Taking a deep breath, Gerald exhaled, adjusting his skirt. "There was a costume shop up the block with the 'Open' sign still lit. I walked in and told the woman behind the counter I needed to pass as a female... I didn't specify why. She turned out to be a duelist, so I had her lend me her deck, too." He smiled, switching back to the Dita voice. "I think I make a pretty good woman, don't you?"

Chad shivered, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Don't do that. It's immensely disturbing."

Curtseying, Gerald strode across the bridge, standing over Ida. "The difference between us," he mused, "is that he did it for comfort, while I did it for business." He then knelt, touching where the other crossdresser should have had a left arm. "But this isn't fair. Ida, or whatever his name was, did not serve the Darkness willingly. And now he has to pay for it by spending the rest of his life with one arm. Where is the fairness in that?"

"The Darkness has trouble with the concept of fair," Laura told him, leaning on the bridge's rail. "This is why they used people like Ida as weapons. The best we can do is fight it off and try to get at the head."

The lazy young man nodded, straightening up, and then grabbed his head, swaying on his feet. "Well, that would be the vision..." Just before it overtook him, he could see Laura and Chad running to catch him...

**0000000**

_It had no concept of a body. Before the worlds mortal man knew were ever born, it had hatched from the primordial Chaos, passing through the Darkness as it emerged. Now it contained an infinite dark power within itself, but it needed a vesel of flesh through which to focus the energy._

Long it had slumbered, but as the Balance began to shift and roil with the Shadow Queen's increased preparations for her own movements, the power awoke. Its vessel now lived in the world of humanity, and it now readied to seek it.

Reaching across the walls of worlds, it caught hold of a passer-by. Its influence made the man dark and powerful, but this wasn't the vessel it needed - there was too much within his soul. The one it sought would have a hollow within his spirit to contain the power.

And so it passed from soul to soul, jumping at the first sign of defeat - the first lost at dice to another, who lost at chess to a third, who was beaten in combat by a fourth. And then the fourth...

The vision jumped, and a man who looked exactly like the Master of Chains stood in a duelist's podium, looking through his cards. His opponent was not visible at this point. "I end my turn," the man declared. Gerald now realized who this was - it was Walter Kanlon, Laura's sister's fiance.

As the vision shifted viewpoints, Walter's opponent came into view: a man in light green clothing, standing about 5'9", and he seemed mildly athletic. He had messy brown hair and blonde highlights. There was only one person Gerald knew who looked like that, and it was Alexander.

"If you're truly done," Alexander said, "then I'll finish this duel right now."

The moves came too fast for Gerald to follow, but he did hear a loud cry of "BWAH!" before Walter collapsed at his podium, his Life Points down to zero. From his back rose a ball of black lightning...

It had found its vessel now, after all this time. Extending two black tendrils, it dug into Alexander's chest, causing him to stiffen up slightly behind his console. In one smooth motion, the energy entered his body, and he gave a grim smile as it settled into place.

They were one now, the vessel and the Dark Conduit...

**0000000**

Groggy, Gerald pushed himself off of the bridge, his head rising from Laura's lap. She stood up and dusted off her legs as he moved into a sitting position, blinking a few times. His head throbbed, as always after a vision.

"What did you see?" Chad asked him.

Groaning, the lazy young man shook his head. "Too cryptic... I can't remember anything specific," he lied. "I can tell you this much, however... it wasn't about the Pillar of Death. The Light apparently wants us to go in unprepared."

"So in other words, Ida lost an arm for nothing," Laura summed up, acid dripping from her words.

The three regrouped, Gerald dusting off the dress, and Chad asked, "Now what?"

"First of all, we're going back to the costume shop," Gerald said. "I need to return the deck... and this dress." He shook out the skirt and continued, "After that, we're stuck playing the waiting game again."

Inside his head, however, Gerald thought, _That vision... Why did the Light let me see that? It destroys my belief as to the nature of Alexander, yes, but..._ He paused and then held his head. _Oh, no... That's just what I feared..._

They didn't say a word to each other as they headed towards the costume shop.

**0000000**

Shortly after the conclusion of Gerald's duel with Ida, three men and one woman were playing a game of Clue somewhere in St. Paul. One of the men, dressed in black, was controlling Colonel Mustard; one, dressed in green, was Mr. Green; and one, left eye covered by a patch and dressed in purple, was Professor Plum. The woman, meanwhile, had picked Miss Scarlet. It was Mr. Green's turn.

Taking his piece, Alexander moved it into the Conservatory and said, "I suspect Miss Scarlet, with the Wrench, in the Conservatory." He took Bethany's piece and moved it to the Conservatory before looking to Degas, who shook his head, and then to Klaus, who held up the Wrench card. Nodding, Alexander checked off that item on the checklist sheet.

The turn passed to Degas, who rolled the dice. They came up a three, and he scowled, moving towards the Dining Room. Next came Bethany, who rolled a four and moved out of the Conservatory.

Klaus now picked up the dice and threw them, getting a seven. He moved into the Study and said, "I accuse Mr. Green, with the Revolver, in the Study."

Taking the Solution envelope, he pulled the cards out of it and tossed them onto the table. They were indeed Mr. Green, the Revolver, and the Study. "Victory, my fellows," Klaus mused.

"This is why I was against playing Clue with the fortune-teller," Degas muttered.

"I assure you I did not divine the outcome before we began. I'm simply good at deduction."

Alexander shrugged and said, "That, and you kept rolling high. You can go back to your chamber now."

The one-eyed man bowed and left the table, stepping out of the mirror room.

As Bethany put away the cards, Alexander shook his head. "As fun as this was, I still can't get my mind off the Pillar of Death. I think we may have made a drastic mistake."

"We can't take it back now," Degas replied, sweeping the pieces off the board and folding it. "And remember, however we feel about it, Gerald and his party will feel a thousand times worse."

Taking a plastic bag, the Dark Conduit scooped the pieces into it, resealing it as he said, "Well... I suppose that much is true. And we are running a little low on servants, anyway." He held out the bag, which Bethany took and set on top of the board, itself back in the box.

"I know... I sensed it too. You would think a priest who's broken one set of vows would think twice about breaking another." The Hand of Darkness shook his head. "I've already altered the gateway; he won't be getting back in. Sooner or later, Hanzaki will find him, and we will have one less free radical to worry about."

"Or the Pillar of Death will find him..." Alexander frowned, shutting his eyes. "For Father Young's sake, I hope Hanzaki finds him first."

**0000000**

The day had just gotten into full swing for a fishing boat out in the Sea of Japan, and its captain (also its sole crewman) had just finished setting the nets when he heard something in the hold. It sounded like three low bursts, unlike anything he'd heard in his life. Adjusting his tall, spiky black haircut, the captain reset his headband and stepped down into the hold, spear in hand.

At first, nothing seemed to be there. However, the captain hadn't gotten through his life to that point by hearing things that weren't there, and he hadn't played Duel Monsters for several years without gaining an eye for details. There was a small scorch mark on the floor in front of him, and so he headed further in.

And then he found what he was looking for - someone sitting on a barrel. The intruder was incredibly pale and thin, holding an oxygen mask to his face and taking slow, painful breaths. His appearance was only a secondary concern, however.

"How did you get on my ship?" the captain wondered, lowering his spear. "I swept this boat twice before setting out, and I was sure nobody was on board but me..."

"Nobody was," the thin man replied in heavily accented, but well-pronounced, Japanese. "Took an alternate route. Worked just as well."

Not one to settle for obvious fallacies, the captain flexed his muscles and raised the spear again. "Now, listen here, you..." He then coughed, which confused him - he never got sick. He gathered his attention again, shaking his head. "Listen here - I don't like stowaways, even ones I can't explain. You and I are going back on the deck, and..." He burst into a fit of coughing, taking a minute before he could get his breath back. "We're going back on the deck, and I'm calling the harbor patrol to take you away!"

The man shook his head, taking another pull on the oxygen tank. "In a few seconds, will be unnecessary. In fact, will be leaving in due time. With you in tow. Take too long to explain."

"What the hell are you-"

And then it felt like his lungs had exploded inside his chest. The spear clattered to the floor, and the captain collapsed, drawing helplessly at the air. All the strength drained out of his muscles, and the last thing he saw before the world turned gray was the thin man, leaning over him and staring into his eyes.

Those eyes were the coldest ones he had ever seen. Nothing in them indicated that the man looking through them possessed a shred of compassion or kindness. They flicked about, and then the captain realized how the man was looking at him: he was examining him with the same detachment fishermen had towards the fish they brought to market.

A moment passed, during which the familiar marks of the Darkness Infection set in on the captain's body. The man straightened up, taking another breath from his oxygen tank, and exhaled. "Still alive. Not sure what release of energy would do to him. Experiment suceeded. Now..." The man slowly clenched one fist. "Back to the United States. To Minnesota. Work to do yet."

Three bursts of black energy traveled out from his body, and both the man and his victim vanished.

That afternoon, a small fishing boat washed up, unmanned, on the shores of Okinawa. The records indicated it belonged to the fisherman and duelist named Mako Tsunami, but he was not aboard. In fact, there were no signs he had ever boarded or left the craft. The only unusual circumstance the investigation revealed were two identical burn marks within the ship's hold.

**RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: Several ancient buildings atop the clouds.  
Effect: You can Special Summon any monsters in your hand with the word "Valkyrie" in their name. The monsters are returned to your deck at the end of the turn.

**VALKYRIE ZWEITE**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: Monster/LIGHT/Fairy/5/1600/1600  
Image: A stern female warrior on horseback, with long pink hair.  
Effect: When this monster is summoned, destroy one opponent's monster on the field.

**LOGE'S FLAME**  
Type: Continuous Trap Card  
Image: A tornado of blue fire.  
Effect: Monsters with an ATK of 2000 points or fewer cannot attack. When this card is removed from the field, you can summon "Valkyrie Brunhilde."

**SWAN MAIDEN**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A swan flying in front of the vague image of a beautiful woman.  
Effect: Special Summon 1 Valkyrie monster from your hand.

**VALKYRIE BRUNHILDE**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: Monster/LIGHT/Fairy/7/1800/2000  
Image: A female warrior on horseback, armed with sword and shield, with dark blue hair billowed around her.  
Effect: Increase this monster's ATK by 300 points for every Warrior and Dragon-Type monster on both sides of the field. If you reduce this monster's DEF by 1000 points, it is not destroyed in battle. Damage calculation is applied normally.

**FORTUNE CHARIOT**  
Type: Union Monster Card  
Statistics: Monster/LIGHT/Beast/Union/5/1000/1000  
Image: A golden chariot pulled by two strong horses.  
Effect: Equip 1 Valkyrie on your side of the field to this card. The equipped Valkyrie can reduce its ATK by half and attack your opponent's life points directly.

**VALKYRIE DRITTE**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: Monster/LIGHT/Fairy/4/1000/1600  
Image: A mounted female warrior with red hair.  
Effect: Increase this card's ATK by 100 points for each monster that has been removed from play.

**VALKYRIE'S EMBRACE**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A Valkyrie descending to embrace a man.  
Effect: Switch one Valkyrie monster from Attack to Defense Position. Destroy 1 opponent's monster.  
_Note: The preceding eight cards were used by Ziegfried throughout the KC Grand Prix arc of the original series. All creative credit goes to the writers of that arc._

**CRUSADE OF SACRILEGE**  
Type: Continuous Magic Card/Card of Night  
Image: Two men in hideous black armor crushing a bejeweled goblet with iron clubs.  
Effect: As long as this card is in play, you may make as many Tribute Summons each turn as you wish. Whenever you deal Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, they must discard one card at random from their hand. All cards discarded from the hand are removed from play. If this card is destroyed, one of your limbs will cease to exist.

**CARD FROM A DIFFERENT DIMENSION**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A card being created in an energy chamber.  
Effect: When this card is removed from play, return it to your hand on your next Standby Phase, and both players draw two cards.  
Note: This card was used by Zane in the GX episode "Graduation Match, Pt. 1". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.

**VALKYRIE YUUKI**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: Monster/LIGHT/Fairy/6/1600/1000  
Image: A mounted warrior maiden with blonde hair, carrying a large hammer in one hand.  
Effect: When this monster is Summoned, including Special Summon, choose one monster in your opponent's Graveyard and remove it from play. Until the end of the turn, this monster gains ATK equal to the ATK of the removed monster.  
_  
Coming next chapter: ...actually, I can't tell you. The effect would be lost if you knew what was coming. In fact, I cannot even tell you the title - it might be too much of a hint._


	27. Infection

_Author's Note: It's finally time for another chapter... and I have to warn you._

The Graz'zt chapter got fairly graphic, but this... this one is just as bad. Reader discretion advised.

_**They say the brave don't fear the grave. Cowards die a thousand deaths, but the truly brave only die once. (As someone once said, yes, but the brave die the death that actually counts.) Courage is the art of resisting fear and staring death in the teeth.**_

_**I'm doing that right now, and bravery is not among my feelings. Panic and fright are, however. Then again, how often do the brave stare Death literally in its eyes? Eyes that don't blink, and look at you like you could not be any lower on the scale of living things...**_

_**He appeared from nowhere, and where he took me... I have no idea. Unless I can overcome him, I won't have time to find out, either. Just like when I battled Graz'zt, I have no escape unless I win.**_

_**When I fought Graz'zt, he almost killed me - I only survived due to the Light's intercession. Nobody is coming to save me this time. If I don't win, I'm at the mercy of Death itself...**_

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Infection**

Oliver Laxina checked over his room's supplies one last time. He had stopped in a small grocery store after meeting with Gerald the day before, and now had enough food and water to last about a week. He silently hoped that his son and his son's friends would be able to settle the issue by that time, because he was fairly sure that looting the motel's stores would not add much to the supplies.

The older man ran his hands through his hair, adjusted his shirt, and picked up the room's phone. As he had expected, there was no signal - the employees at the phone company were likely among the Darkness Infected. Sighing, he hung up the phone and flipped open his cell phone, tapping in a long-distance number. To his surprise, he got reception, and thus set the phone to his ear. A few seconds later, there was an answer.

"Faye?" Oliver said. He paused, and then smiled. "Everything's fine so far. 3M already has everything in place for when we move in. I saw our house today; it's in just as good a condition as when we stopped there in April. Once I have all the details settled out, I'll bring you up... Oh? That's good to hear. By the way, I ran into Gerald yesterday..."

He paused, chuckled, and continued, "You know Gerald, honey - he had his reasons for being here, too. I didn't probe too deeply into them. We dueled... He won, of course. I have a good deck, but he didn't win all those tournaments for nothing. He had a couple of friends with him... including a girl..." He winced, pulling the phone away from his ear for a moment, before setting it back into place. "No, I _haven't_ started drinking, Faye. The last time I ever touched alcohol was at our wedding, and that was because your mother insisted, remember? Yes, he had a girl with him." He chuckled again. "It seemed that way. Looks like our son has enough energy to be interested in the opposite sex after all. So, how are things going in your part of the country?"

As Oliver listened to his wife's rundown, he didn't see the air blurring outside of his window. Thus Hanzaki was able to slide up to the window and press the part of his head where a normal person had ears to it without interruption. Not that he had orders to do this, but he figured spying on Gerald's father would produce interesting results.

"Well, that sounds about normal," Oliver said now. He paused, and then smiled again before responding, "Yes, I haven't forgotten. I told Gerald about it, as well. He didn't seem very happy to hear it..." He then frowned. "I know it hurt him as badly as it did us, but after five years you think he would forgive... No, I don't think pressing it would be smart. Just let him deal with it his way, Faye... Well, if you have plans, I guess I'll let you take care of them. Love you, and I know the boys do, too. Goodbye." He hung up and set his phone back in the charger, sighing as he sat down.

The Lycra-clad eavesdropper blinked at that last statement. "Boys?" He then flinched, realizing he'd said it aloud.

At that point, Oliver looked towards the window, but all he saw was a blur in the air. "I must be getting old," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

**0000000**

Across the Twin Cities, in the back seat of the Corolla GTS, Gerald was back in his original outfit, fast asleep. Chad had made the mistake of asking him, "Why didn't you fall asleep after you defeated Ida?" On hearing that, the lazy young man had slumped over in his seatbelt and dozed off.

As Gerald slept, however, he dreamed. This was odd, as he hadn't slept long enough to pass into REM sleep. And it was not a good dream.

He stood in the Portland Jetport again, but this time there were no people there. All the seats in the gate were torn apart, and the windows were broken and shattered on all sides. Looking out, he couldn't see any planes, and the sky was pitch-black.

A voice came from behind him, saying, "Impressed? This is just the start."

After he got his nerves back, Gerald slowly turned around, staring into an unexpected familiar face. "Aaron Torlar? I thought we left you in Maine."

"You did," Aaron said. He was a Darkness Infected again, but now the marks ran up his arms and across his forehead, winding around his eyes. "But that won't matter soon enough. Ah, memories..." He grinned, but not in a healthy way - it looked like a corpse's smile. "I was the first Darkness Infected you ever fought. Back then, you thought it couldn't get any worse. You were kind of a dope then, weren't you?"

"I learned quickly enough," Gerald replied, glancing about the ruined airport. "What did you do to this place?"

Shaking his head, Aaron replied, "I didn't do a thing to this place. That was..."

The world blinked out, and suddenly, Gerald stood atop the Cathedral of Saint Paul again. High over his head, Jean-Vic Viper balanced atop the highest cross, his silver armor freshly polised and gleaming. The Pillar of Destruction gestured out, and both of them looked down.

The city was burning, a thousand fires dancing along the skyline. Armies of people entered each building in turn, carrying items out before setting fire to the structure. Other groups roamed about, armed and ready for... something.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jean-Vic said, leaping down to stand alongside Gerald.

Face pale, Gerald turned to his fallen opponent. "It's sickening... How could this happen?"

"The Pillar of Death made it happen." The Pillar of Destruction put a hand to his chin. "I was the first of the Pillars to join Degas and Alexander. Before I joined them, I was a pathetic little man, working at a Gamestop. Menardi was a secretary, desperate for beauty. Bethany..."

"...was Alexander's girlfriend, willing to do anything for him, I know."

Jean-Vic chuckled, and then turned serious. "We all joined out of some need. The Pillar of Death's need was a need to avoid being imprisoned. They recruited him out of the back of the truck taking him to prison, the day after he received a sentence of fifty years."

"What was the crime?" Gerald asked, although he could guess.

With a sigh, the Pillar of Destruction began to speak...

Before Gerald could hear the answer, the world blinked, and he was standing on the streets of Minneapolis. All around him were the remains of the skyscrapers - the dream had sent him to the ruins of Downtown. Groups of people worked to cart away the debris; now that he stood among them, he saw they were all Darkness Infected, bearing the same marks as Aaron.

Even though he knew to expect it, given the location, Gerald's blood still turned to ice as Jacob Waterknot walked up to him. Blood ran from his mouth, and there was a massive red bruise on his chest, the marks of his death. The runes on his chest had faded, and were no more than ruined flesh.

Swallowing hard, Gerald took a deep breath and asked, "Aaron and Jean-Vic I can understand, but what are you doing here?"

"I'm illustrating a point, Chosen of the Light," the dead man replied. "When you fought Aaron, you thought that was as bad as the Darkness could be. When you fought Jean-Vic, you readjusted that view and assumed he was the worst. The same thing happened with me. But now that the Pillar of Death is free, you'll need to adjust that again."

"How can a Pillar be worse than you?"

Jacob chuckled, revealing his teeth were sharpened into fangs. "I admit I had my tricks. After all, I had sold my soul to thirty-one demons, I killed freely and without restrain... I was a cannibal, but that's not important for our purposes..." He then stopped, frowned, and said, "I may not have had a human conscience, but I had scruples. I didn't resort to deadly force until it seemed necessary if I was to kill you. I tried to restrain myself, because I knew killing innocents would hinder Degas and Alexander's plan." He glared at Gerald and said, "The Pillar of Death has nothing like that. Nothing holds him back. Nothing."

For the second time, the first since his battle with Jacob himself, Gerald felt terror pulse through his body.

Gesturing around him, Jacob explained, "All this is the outcome of Degas and Alexander's victory. This is the Twin Cities under their rule. And this is what will be if the Pillar of Death triumphs. To be honest, Chosen of the Light, I rather like it like this." He then looked at Gerald again and concluded, "If you rather would not have it come to pass, hold nothing back. The Pillar of Death won't. And your friends will not stand a chance at stopping him."

"What do you-"

The dream faded, and Gerald awoke, holding onto his head. The last touches of a splitting headache faded away, and he wondered what sort of vision that was supposed to be.

**0000000**

In a world beyond mortal ken, the golden sphere withdrew into itself, saying to itself, **That is the last of the Reciprocal. Chosen... We can't help you any further. The rest is in your hands, from now until the Darkness falls again.**

**0000000**

A shake of his head cleared Gerald's vision, and he realized Laura was leaning over in her seatbelt, stroking his face. She blushed once he looked at her and pulled away, wringing out her hand. "So... did you see anything?" she asked.

"When?"

"While you were asleep... did you dream?"

Nodding, Gerald took a deep breath and said, "I saw... the world as it would be if Degas and Alexander won. And then Jean-Vic showed up... and Jacob. They were talking about the Pillar of Death."

"What did they say?" Chad asked, slowing the car down and glancing over the seat back.

"Not much. But what I did hear was interesting..."

Before Gerald could say any more, three booming noises came from down the street. A pale man stepped out of nowhere and glared at the Corolla.

Letting out a gasp, Chad struck the brakes and bent over, grabbing his chest as Laura recoiled and Gerald grabbed his head. The tall man quickly held out his right hand, the Ring of Purity still on it, and chanted, "Ring of Purity, protect us from zis dark and evil presence..."

The pink bubble engulfed the seats, and the three caught their breath. Wiping off his brow, Gerald muttered, "The feeling is unmistakable. He's out there. We're in the Pillar of Death's territory."

"But why here?" Laura asked. "There isn't anything of strategic value. This is just a row of shops in the center of Minneapolis."

The three booms sounded again, and then the pale man stood outside of the car. He tapped on the glass, and everyone jumped, looking at him.

This time, the booming noises were accompanied by black rings of energy. Laura let out a cry of shock, and then she and the man were gone.

"Laura?" Gerald called, undoing his seatbelt and opening the door. As he stepped onto the street, there was no sign of either Laura or the man - just a scorch mark on the road.

**0000000**

"Get out of here, Bethany," Alexander said as he settled into his chair before the mirrors. "You do not wish to see this."

The young woman in question had just finished folding the card table, and so she nodded and carried it out, the door shutting behind her.

The man in black sat next to his partner, interlacing his fingers. "They always go after Laura first," he noted, setting his chin on his hands. "Perhaps they think she's the weakest one."

"There's some truth to that," the man in green said. "Gerald is an experienced tournament champion, and Chad's trained alongside him. Laura's a pure amateur." He then paused and shuddered as something hit his senses. "Wait... The Pillar of Death is in our lair. I can't sense where, exactly, but he's here..."

Raising his head, Degas smiled. "He has taken Laura to the Pillar Room. I removed the door earlier this afternoon, but I haven't quite removed the room itself yet. It makes an admirable pen for combat."

Frowning, Alexander stared at the mirrors as the image appeared on them.

**0000000**

Three booming noises pounded inside Laura's head as she fell to the ground, her cry finishing itself with a brief spike as something pressed into her legs. She shook her head, hair fluttering about, and then pushed herself back onto her feet. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around.

The room was dark, the only light a dim radiance from the ceiling. All over the floor sat small chunks of obsidian, which she had landed on. They were scattered everywhere, but clustered in four specific points. She could hear wind somewhere, so the room wasn't completely contained, but there were no doors or windows.

And standing across from her was the man from the street. He was taller than she was, but not by much, and painfully thin. His skin looked stretched and pale; she could see the veins in his hands, and there were lines around his lines. He had thick, graying hair, and his face had a permanent expression of pain. The man wore a long white coat, with a blue shirt and black pants underneath it, and there was a small oxygen tank clipped to his belt, the mask dangling from it.

A moment passed, and then the man began to cough violently, blood flecking his hand as he covered his mouth. He retrieved a syringe from his pocket and jabbed it into his neck, partially depressing it. It took a few seconds before his coughing stopped, and he shook the blood off of his hand.

"Apologies," he said to Laura. "Happens often. The medication helps. Used to think it was TB, but misdiagnosed self."

Shaking her head, the young woman looked her abductor over and said, "Judging from the aura back on the street, you're the Pillar of Death..."

"Go by Reston," the Pillar replied.

"Reston. Right." Her head lowered. "First I get grabbed out of Maine by Ogre and threatened with a rat pit, then I have to fight the Pillar of Terror, then I get attacked directly by the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and then a Demon Prince almost _kills_ me... and now I have to fight the Pillar of Death?" She raised her head and yelled, "_Why does Fate hate me?!?"_

Reston shrugged. "Blame yourself or God. Just job to duel you. Cannot go against it." He coughed again, lifted the oxygen mask to his face, and took a drag from it.

Seeing this, Laura blinked and asked, "Why do you need that? In fact, what's wrong with you in general?"

The man sighed, holding the mask away from his face. "Reason became a Pillar. Was a doctor once, but came down with disease. Progressing towards terminal. Disease suspended - but not cured - as Pillar. Seek victory to cure disease."

"What's the disease... if I may ask?"

"You may." Clearing his throat, a little blood splashing onto his fist, Reston took another drag off of the mask and said, as if reciting, "Feinglory's Systemic Circulatory Deterioration. Weakens the veins and arteries of the victim, causing them to leak. First signs are increased, inexplicable bruising and constant fatigue. In first stage, symptoms include increased heart rate, mild to moderate anemia, and unusual weakness. Second stage marked by pale, clammy skin, inability of blood to clot, reduced body temperature, and organ damage. Third stage terminal, usually by internal hemhorraging or heart failure." He paused, took another breath from his tank, and added, "Trademark sign coughing up blood, caused by leakage of veins in the throat and lungs."

_Sounds like a horrible way to die,_ Laura thought. _If I had it, I'd do what I could to handle it, too..._ She then stomped herself on the foot, thinking, _Wait! I can't sympathize with a Pillar!_ "So..." she said, and then paused for a moment before continuing, "You were a doctor?"

The Pillar of Death nodded. "Medical degree from Johns Hopkins... Worked 20 years at associated hospital. Left Maryland to seek treatment in other states when diagnosed with Feinglory's SCD... None available." He sighed, and then broke into another fit of coughing, covering his hand with blood as he hacked away. His hand flashed, returning with the syringe, which he jabbed into his neck and emptied.

"I'm guessing being a doctor has to do with why you talk like that."

"Medical profession requires much shorthand. Became habitual. Could talk normally if tried." Taking a strap from the back of his oxygen mask, Reston slipped it into place, adjusting the mask on his face until it fit. His next words were somewhat more muffled, but still audible. "Talked too long. Duel must begin now."

Laura's expression turned grim, and she thought, _All right... This is the fourth and final Pillar. If I win this battle, the foremost weapons of the Darkness will be destroyed once and for all. I have to win this battle... for myself, for the Light, and for Gerald..._ She activated her Duel Disk and nodded to Reston, saying, "I am ready."

"Readiness not a factor." Crossing his arms overhead, Reston shut his eyes. Black lightning crackled up his body, dancing around his right arm and exploding into an unearthly light. This light slowly faded to reveal a pale Duel Disk, already on. He lowered it in front of himself and stared into Laura's eyes.

Despite herself, Laura broke into a sweat. There was something inexplicably wrong about Reston's eyes - they looked normal, but something was missing. Perhaps it was just because he didn't seem to blink. She could not place what, but without it, he seemed incomplete - inhuman.

"Begin game."

The Duel Disks went up to 8,000 Life Points, and the seal of a Dark Duel drew itself around both players.

"I begin." Reston reached for his deck and drew out six cards with one twitch of his fingers. He fanned them, glanced over his hand, and then delicately plucked a card from it and set it sideways on his Duel Disk. "Monster facedown..." His fingers twitched twice more. "Two cards facedown. Turn end."

Drawing her own hand, Laura thought, _That's the standard opening move. It keeps your theme a secret until they attack..._ Looking at her hand, she sighed. _I have two normal Sasuke Samurai in this deck, why do I never draw either of them?_ "I begin by summoning Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Mode," she said.

The metal-armored knight rose into view, sunlight glinting off the edges of his arms. His red eyes turned on Reston, and he pounded one fist into his other palm. (1,800/1,000)

"Gearfried," Laura ordered, "attack his facedown monster with Iron Edge!"

As commanded, the knight slid forward, one of his armblades at the ready. He ran up to Reston's facedown monster and brought his blade down hard, slicing it into two halves. It was a small, chubby rodent, eyes wide as it was bisected, and it exploded into a small cloud of purple dust. (900/400)

A card jutted out of Reston's deck, and he explained, "Bubonic Vermin. When flipped, can set another Bubonic Vermin facedown. Will do so." He took the jutting card and set it into place, adding, "Activate trap, Michizure. One of my monsters destroyed, one of yours destroyed as well."

The card flipped faceup, and the floor of the Pillar Room crumbled to dust under Gearfried's feet. He let out a cry of shock as he fell through the floor, plummeting out of sight.

_Bubonic Vermin?_ Laura thought. _Why does anyone play that? There are other monsters in the game that replace themselves and have other effects to go with it... _She shrugged, saying, "I'll set these two cards facedown and end my turn."

Drawing his next card, the Pillar of Death looked at it and nodded. "Hand not any good. Play Magical Mallet, allowing to shuffle hand into deck and draw again. Will do so with all cards." He folded his hand, withdrew his deck, and shuffled them together before drawing three cards. Pulling three cards off the top, he unfolded them and flicked his eyes along them before picking one out.

Laura gulped. _Nobody switches out their entire hand without that card unless they're looking for something. What is he looking for?_

"Activate Continuous Magic Card, Dark Snake Syndrome," Reston answered as he played the card.

At first nothing happened... and then Laura swayed a bit, her head spinning. She set a hand to her forehead, only to find it was much hotter than normal. Her arm itched, and she yanked up her sleeve to see it was covered with thick black bands. "What the hell?" she muttered, before turning to Reston and seeing he had the same markings.

"Dark Snake Syndrome," the Pillar of Death began. "Cause of transmission unknown. Believed to be a viral contagion. First symtoms include weakness, fever, and development of black marks on skin. Disease causes massive tissue damage, inflicting severe pain on sufferers. Time until terminal phase begins varies from case to case. In game terms, deals 200 Life Points of damage on my next Standby Phase, doubling the amount dealt with each turn until destroyed or game ends. Quite painful."

The young woman bit her lip. _Oh,_ now _I remember this card,_ she thought. _It was painful enough watching people get hit by it in normal duels. This is a Dark Duel - will I even survive?_

"Until next turn, disease in incubation period," Reston concluded. "So set monster in Defense Mode and end turn." The hologram appeared next to his previous monster.

Laura drew again, taking a few deep breaths. _Maintain your calm, or this duel will not end well,_ she thought. She then looked at her new card and grinned. "I play Reinforcements of the Army, allowing me to add one Warrior to my hand - and I choose Sasuke Samurai!" she declared.

All the Pillar of Death did in response was stroke his chin.

As she searched her deck, Laura muttered, "You could at least show an emotion or two..." Withdrawing the monster, she then said, "Now I'll summon my Sasuke Samurai in Attack Mode!"

The superdeformed swordsman flashed into view, hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. Both of his large eyes were trained on Reston, and he seemed angrier than usual. (500/400)

The Pillar of Death looked at the one card he was holding, and then glanced to the Sasuke Samurai as he thought, _Unimportant._

"Sasuke Samurai," Laura ordered, "dispose of the older facedown monster with High-Velocity Wakazashi!"

Setting his feet, the small warrior drew his blade and flicked it out before resheathing it. A gust of wind crossed Reston's face, and then the Bubonic Vermin appeared. It slid cleanly in half along a diagonal before shattering.

With an idle wave of his hand, Reston noted, "Cannot summon new Bubonic Vermin due to Sasuke Samurai's effect. Destroyed without flipping, so effect does not trigger. Pity."

Laura nodded, looked at her hand again, and then said, "End turn."

"Draw," the thin man replied, adjusting his oxygen mask before doing so. He then said, "Incubation complete. Dark Snake Syndrome activates."

There was a loud hiss in the air, and then Laura's entire body felt like it was on fire. She gasped, biting hard into her lip as pain washed over her. A moment later, she dropped to one knee, the pain evaporating and leaving her with a tingle along her spine. All the while, Reston merely watched her, as the Life Points of both duelists moved to 7,800.

After a shuddering breath, Laura asked, "W-Wait... didn't you feel that pain?"

"Pain meaningless to me," the Pillar replied. "Feinglory's SCD cuts off blood flow to nerves along skin. Cannot feel pain unless inflicted deep within tissues. Dark Snake Syndrome pain superficial."

_Great,_ the redhead thought as she stood up. _I'm at another disadvantage._

"Now play Ekibyo Drakmord on Sasuke Samurai," Reston said, sliding the card into place.

A green cloud covered the little swordsman, and he let out a cough. Green rashes suddenly broke out along his skin, and he collapsed in on himself, eyes shutting as he coughed some more. Blood dribbled out of his mouth.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Laura yelled.

Following another long breath, the doctor explained, "Ekibyo Drakmord. Caused by viral agents of unknown origin. Onset imminent. Symptoms include green rash, internal bleeding, and damage to all organs, especially lungs and stomach. Terminal rate 100 without immediate treatment. In game terms, cannot attack with Sasuke Samurai, and monster will be destroyed on your second Standby Phase." He paused, studying the monster's convulsions. "End turn."

"Now I'm beginning to understand why you're the Pillar of Death," Laura whispered to herself, drawing. She held up a card and declared, "I summon the Familiar Knight in Attack Mode!"

The knight stepped out, still wearing his face-concealing helmet and breastplate. He tapped his sword against his shield and glared at Reston. Somehow, even here, there was a breeze to ripple his cape. (1,200/1,400)

Gulping, Laura ordered, "Familiar Knight, attack the facedown monster with Chivalrous Slash!"

Slamming his blade against his shield, the knight rushed forward and swung the sword around, cleaving through Reston's monster... or so he tried. A linen-wrapped hand caught the sword and twisted it downwards. The Familiar Knight just stared as two mummified men in purple wrappings rose up, their eyes full of pain. (1,000/1,800) One breathed into his face, and the knight stumbled away, coughing.

Even as her Life Points lowered to 7,200, Laura saw one of the mummies looking at her. It reached into itself and pulled its wrappings apart, letting out a cloud of purple smoke. It rolled over Laura, and for a moment she couldn't catch her breath, choking and sinking to her knees. Her Life Points dropped further, to 6,700, before the cloud departed and she took several long breaths.

"Monster was Poison Mummy," the Pillar of Death noted. "Effect deals 500 Life Points of damage when turned face-up. Add clash damage, and total is 1,100. Continue?"

"Give me a moment," Laura wheezed, coughing again. She stood up once more, staggering for a moment, before shaking out her hair and saying, "My turn ends." In front of her, the Sasuke Samurai convulsed again, arching his back up.

Reston drew, and then noted, "Dark Snake Syndrome activates."

This time, as the hiss sounded, Laura could see a red haze on the edge of her vision. And then the pain hit her anew, and she bit her lip, fingers curling into her palms. It almost felt as though the bands around her limbs were crushing her... and then the pain released, and she exhaled. Her Life Points lowered to 6,300, and Reston's went down to 7,400.

"Play Pot of Greed," Reston said, no hint in his voice that he had even noticed his card's effect. The hologram appeared and disappeared, and he took two cards off the top of his deck. "Monster in Defense Mode. End turn."

"Are you actually going to use your turns, or can I have them?" Laura muttered as she drew.

Once the card was in her hand, Reston glanced to her Sasuke Samurai and said, "Ekibyo Drakmord activates. Sasuke Samurai destroyed."

The little swordsman vomited at that point, blood dripping from his mouth, and his arms and legs thrashed about, snapping all four limbs in turn. He spasmed twice more, and then with one long rattle, his breathing stopped.

The Pillar of Death made a hand gesture, and the body of the Sasuke Samurai flew to his field. Laura blinked and shouted, "What the hell are you _doing_?"

Reaching into his robe with his left hand, Reston replied, "Never seen a monster slain by Ekibyo Drakmord before. Need an autopsy." He knelt next to the slain monster and took out a scalpel. "Will only take a few minutes. Patience appreciated." One hand tore away the Sasuke Samurai's armor and clothing.

**0000000**

Standing up, Alexander turned his back on the mirrors. "Forget it," he told his partner. "There was an open-heart surgery scene in the movie 'All That Jazz', and that was all the medical proceedings I ever needed to see. Tell me when it's over."

"All right," Degas replied, leaning forward in his seat. A smile crossed his lips.

**0000000**

As Laura watched, her stomach turning over, the doctor-turned-Pillar made a set of incisions in the shape of a Y on her dead monster's chest. "Wish ribspreader at hand," he muttered. More audibly, he noted, "Patient Sasuke Samurai. Age: unknown, cause of death: Ekibyo Drakmord, time of death: 7:58 P.M., June 26th, 2005."

Putting the backs of his hands together, he plunged them into the monster's chest and caught hold, pulling hard. The ribcage cracked, and the chest cavity tore open, revealing the inside of the monster. To Laura's surprise (and adding to her disgust), there was a very human set of organs within.

As he looked inside, Reston muttered, "Further wish for scale. Will have to estimate weights." He flicked the scalpel across the veins and connective tissue surrounding the Sasuke Samurai's left lung, picked it up, and weighed it in his hand. "Lung about two pounds, give or take. Apparently full of fluid..." He gave it a gentle shake. "Yes. Pleural fluid build-up in lungs." Setting it back in the cavity, he cut loose the heart, hands already stained with blood.

"For the love of God, **stop**!" Laura screamed.

By that point, Reston was already examining the heart, saying to himself, "Heart seems enlarged, possibly due to fluid build-up..." He then looked up, sighed, and tossed the Sasuke Samurai's heart back into his chest. "Fine. Autopsy fairly worthless without chart, anyway."

The Pillar of Death rose to his feet, and the violated corpse of Laura's monster shattered at last, to her great relief. "Ekibyo Drakmord returns to my hand," he told the young woman, picking up his card. "Still your turn."

As Laura reached for her next move, she realized her hands were shaking. Even when she had battled Graz'zt, her hands had remained steady. _How badly is this duel getting to me?_ she wonder. _I have to remain calm... like he is... Good God, is he even human? _Stamping herself on the foot, she steeled her nerves and tossed a card onto her Duel Disk, yelling, "Double Pinaska, get him!"

From behind Reston, two machetes whipped down, striking the floor in front of Laura. Their owner sprang out, rolling between them, and caught up his weapons as he moved. He was a Spanish man in full array, and he crossed his blades, smiling to Laura. (1,500/1,500)

"He will not touch me," Reston countered, activating a facedown card. "Will get him instead, with Nightmare Wheel."

The hideous, chain-covered wheel rose up from the floor, turning slowly. Spikes covered its surface, sharp and waiting for a victim. Three chains whipped out, catching the Double Pinaska before he could even stand fully upright. They dragged him up into the sky, and secured him to the wheel, causing him to grimace.

"Monster trapped by Nightmare Wheel cannot attack or switch modes," the Pillar of Death explained. "In addition, 500 Life Points deducted from you each of your Standby Phases."

Laura could feel herself slowly turning pale. _I'm going to regret this,_ she thought, _but if I don't attack him he'll just set off the traps and tricks himself. At least if I attack I'm setting the timing. _"Familiar Knight, attack his face-down monster," she said.

The knight threw himself forward and brought his sword around. It smashed through a small blue slime, splattering it to pieces. (800/1,000)

Part of the slime hit the back of Laura's hand, and she let out a sudden scream as it burned into her. The slime fell off, leaving a dark red burn where it had hit. To no one's surprise, her Life Points fell to 5,500.

"Acid Slime," Reston explained. "When destroyed in battle, reduces your Life Points by 800. Anything else?"

With another gulp, Laura shook her head.

As the Pillar of Death drew, the familiar hissing and red haze of the Dark Snake Syndrome came upon them. This time, as the pain hit, Laura bit her lip hard enough to break the skin, blood dripping to the floor as her nails dug into her hands. It lasted several agonizing seconds before fading away, leaving her shuddering. Her Life Points sank to 4,700, and Reston's went to 6,600 at the same time.

When it was over, Reston, as always unaffected by his card, fanned out his cards and picked one out. "Dark Room of Nightmare."

Four black shafts rose up from the ground around Laura, dark energy dancing between them. Soon her view of Reston was obscured by a thin wall of unearthly black light; looking closely, she could see her reflection on it. Her hand went out to touch it, and a black spark jumped from the wall to her hand, making her wince.

"When Effect Damage is dealt to your Life Points," Reston explained, "Dark Room of Nightmare addes 300 points to the amount. Next, play Ekibyo Drakmord on Familiar Knight."

The knight dropped his sword and shield as the green rashes shot up his arms. He shot a helpless glance to Laura before dropping to his knees, grabbing at his throat.

"Set monster in Defense Mode," Reston concluded, "and end turn. Once you draw, cards combined will deal you 800 points of damage."

True to the Pillar's word, once Laura drew, the wheel revolved while holding the Double Pinaska in place, making him scream in pain. Red light shone down from the Nightmare Wheel and onto Laura, and suddenly she could feel his pain burning down her spine. Her muscles contracted, and she grabbed at herself, her Life Points now at 4,200.

The Dark Room of Nightmare fired four bolts of black energy into her as well, and her legs gave out - she fell to the ground, her breathing ragged as her Life Points set to 3,900.

A moment later, the young woman stirred, wiping blood off of her mouth with the back of one hand. Her limbs twitched as her muscles contracted, and she whispered, "**_I call my Image._**"

_Will not help, but go ahead,_ thought Reston.

The white fog left Laura's body, formed into a human figure, and soon the brown-haired woman in armor - Kanan the Swordmistress - stood alongside her, hand resting on Laura's shoulder. The redhead stumbled, and her Image held her upright.

Even as they convulsed in their separate agonies, Laura's monsters turned to Kanan and nodded, drawing some strength from her presence. (Familiar Knight: 1,200/1,400 - 1,600/1,400; Double Pinaska: 1,500/1,500 - 1,900/1,500)

"Now," Laura continued, "I play Graceful Charity. I'm fairly certain you know what this does."

The Dark Room of Nightmare's walls blinked out, and an angelic figure descended in front of Laura, waving a hand over the woman's deck. She drew three times, thinking, _Something tells me he's never going to attack, so these two cards will be of no use_. She handed the angel her Negate Attack and Swords of Revealing Light, and there was a flash of light as the angel vanished.

"And now," Laura shouted as she held up one of her draws, "I play Heavy Storm! My facedown cards are worthless, so this is only going to hurt you! That'll be a change, huh?"

For the first time in the entire duel to this point, Reston blinked.

It was as though the room itself was being thrown about by the wind, as the mystic hurricane roared across the field. Laura's Scapegoats and Magic Cylinder were torn apart; at the same time, the Double Pinaska sprang back to Laura's field as the Nightmare Wheel shattered to pieces, the marks of the Dark Snake Syndrome faded away, the Familiar Knight rose to his feet with a sigh of relief, and the Dark Room of Nightmare crumbled away, leaving Laura's vision unclouded.

With the field clear, Laura smiled for the first time since the duel had begun. "Now I summon the Goblin Attack Force in Attack Mode," she said.

The club-wielding goblins marched into place, adjusting their hard hats. Several of them tossed their clubs in the air and, for the most part, caught them. (2,300/0) Kanan shook her head, but still gave them a warm smile, which they returned with multiple leers. The other warriors chuckled to themselves. (GAF: 2,300/0 - 2,900/0; Pinaska: 1,900/1,500 - 2,100/1,500; Knight: 1,600/1,400 - 1,800/1,400)

"Goblin Attack Force," Laura ordered, "destroy the Poison Mummy!"

The goblins let out a phlegmy laugh and marched forward, carrying their clubs high. They pounced on the dessicated mummies and smashed them into dust, bits and pieces of linen flying about as they obliterated the target. That done, they marched back to Laura's field, high-fiving each other, before settling into Defense Mode and falling asleep.

"Crude," Reston noted.

Laura shrugged. "They get the job done. Now, Double Pinaska, attack his facedown monster!"

The Spanish man grinned at her, spun his machetes in front of him, and dove forward with weapons in hand. The blades flashed, cutting through what looked like a horrible wall of muscle tissue with a female face. As the muscles collapsed into a pool of blood, the face screamed, and the Double Pinaska covered his ears before vanishing, returning to Laura's hand.

"Wall of Illusion," the Pillar of Death said. "Constructed from human muscle, mainly from the solar plexus, triceps, and gluteus maximus regions. When attacked, sends the attacker back to the hand."

Laura's eyebrow rose. "Wait... Gluteus maximus... that's the..."

"Very strong muscle, regardless of where it originates."

_Why is it,_ Laura thought, _that after all the garbage I've gone through today, **that's** the freakiest thing so far?_ She looked at her field, her monsters slightly weakened without one of their number. (GAF: 2,900/0 - 2,700/0; Knight: 1,800/1,400 - 1,600/1,400) "Ah, whatever. Familiar Knight, direct attack, now!"

She had hardly needed to give the order. The Familiar Knight charged across the field, sword shining, and rammed the blade home, impaling the Pillar of Death through the stomach. It went through as though the skin, organs, bones, and other tissues did not exist.

Even as Reston's Life Points lowered to 5,000, he locked eyes with the knight, and the armored man sank to his knees, still holding onto his sword. The Pillar grabbed hold of his impaler's helmet and pushed, the blade sliding out, before throwing the knight back to Laura's field.

"I end my turn," Laura said, wiping off her brow.

Reston drew, paused, and then remembered his field was empty. "Need time to think," he said. "Activate Nightmare's Steelcage."

The card was familiar to Laura, as Graz'zt had used it on her previously. Several steel bars arced overhead, forming a latticework pattern, and spikes jutted out from the junction points. A steel grid slammed into place between them, holding her monsters back.

"Set card facedown," the Pillar continued, "and end turn."

Laura drew, and the facedown card lifted, causing her to flinch... until she realized it had nothing to do with her. And then she recognized it, muttering, "Damn."

"Sixth Sense," Reston replied. "Medical science offers no proof of ESP existence, but it makes a useful drawing tool. Name two numbers, then roll one die. If number rolled is number named, draw that many cards. If number rolled is not number named, discard that many cards from deck. Name 3 and 5."

The air around the Pillar of Death turned purple, and a large, six-sided die fell from the air, bouncing three times. To Laura's annoyance, it came up a 5. With a nod, Reston took hold of his deck and pulled five cards off of it.

_Since that cage is still in the way,_ Laura thought, _all I can do is set up._ "I summon Sasuke Samurai #4 and end my turn," she said.

The daimyo emerged into place, naginata over one shoulder. (1,200/1,200) Kanan crossed blades with him, and he nodded to the other warriors, who saluted him. (GAF: 2,700/0 - 2,900/0; Knight: 1,600/1,400 - 1,800/1,400; Sasuke: 1,200/1,200 - 1,800/1,200)

As Reston drew, his hand now at six cards, the Nightmare's Steelcage began to rust through, the wall between them pitted and cracked. He ignored this, however, and instead merely played out his cards. "Graceful Charity," he began.

This time, as the angel descended, she seemed very worried, constantly checking over her wings. Her hand waved over the man's deck, and he pulled three cards from it. A moment passed, and then he handed her two of them - as far as Laura could tell, they were Germ Infection and Stumbling. Once the cards were in her hand, the angel flew away so fast that she left feathers in her wake.

_Wow,_ Laura thought. _He even scares the angels._

"Summon Nubian Guard in Attack Mode," the Pillar of Death stated afterwards.

A tall man with dark skin and Egyptian features rose between the two duelists, clutching a long spear in one hand and a buckler in the other. Fire danced in his eyes as he glared at Laura. (500/400)

"Next," Reston continued, "change his attribute to Dark with Scroll of Bewitchment."

From nowhere, an ofuda flew down and stuck to the Nubian Guard's chest. He stiffened, and then a vile grin spread across his face as the magic washed through him. His eyes turned black, and - not at all surprising the redheaded woman watching him - the marks of the Darkness Infection faded into view.

Picking out two cards from his hand, the Pillar slid them into his Duel Disk, murmuring, "Set two cards facedown and end turn."

Even as she reached for her next draw, Laura began to laugh to herself, despite the lingering pain in her joints. _Oh, please, you bastard,_ she thought. _That's the most obvious move in the game! All I have to do is avoid attacking the Nubian Guard, and your Crush Card will never take effect! And once I get Book of Moon and another Sasuke Samurai, it'll be all over..._

Given her train of thought, her shock was quite notable when she drew only to hear Reston announce, "Activate Crush Card."

"Wait! I didn't even attack your Guard!" she shouted back.

One word from the Pillar of Death crushed her hopes: "Errata."

The infamous Trap Card, with its picture of red viruses, rose on Reston's field. The Nubian Guard convulsed, his legs shaking, and sank to his knees, breathing heavily. His muscles swelled, and he looked across to Laura's field before exploding into a mass of red goo.

One by one, each of Laura's monsters clutched at their throats, choking as the disease struck them. The first to die was the Sasuke Samurai #4, who fell forward and melted out of his armor. Next was the Familiar, whose attempt to cut his own throat failed - he wasn't quick enough to do it before his arms fell away. The Goblin Attack Force fell as one immediately afterward. And finally, Laura's Duel Disk beeped, and she frowned, discarding the Double Pinaska and Blade Knight.

But then she stopped, looked at her deck, and said, "Wait... shouldn't I have lost all my monsters with 1,500 or more Attack Points? That's how it works for Seto Kaiba..."

"Errata," Reston replied. "Card was too powerful, but too hard to use. Never worked. Everyone knew what to look for. So Industrial Illusions changed it. Now Crush Card works just by Tribute... but affects only field, hand, and next three draws. Works more often, but does less. Make sense?"

"Yeah... just wish it hadn't hit me..." Looking at the one card in her hand, she slid it into place, muttering, "This facedown and that's it." Overhead, the last pieces of the Nightmare Steelcage rotted through, and the entire barricade collapsed around them.

Drawing again, the Pillar of Death adjusted his hand before picking out two cards and setting them in his Duel Disk. "Monster in Defense Mode and card facedown. End turn."

A thin purple haze surrounded Laura as she drew, and she held up her card once she did. "I drew the Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, so your Crush Card doesn't touch it."

"In response, activate Hidden Book of Spell," the sick man replied, pausing to adjust his oxygen mask. "Shuffle three Magic Cards from Graveyard into deck." He slid three cards out - Laura could see they were Dark Snake Syndrome, Scroll of Bewitchment, and Ekibyo Drakmord - and placed them on the bottom of his deck, whereupon his Duel Disk whirred and began shuffling the cards.

_Okay, strategy session,_ Laura thought. _I could use my Call of the Haunted to bring back one of my monsters, and that monster wouldn't be killed by the Crush Card again... but that would just open me up to one of his anti-monster tricks. Man, what I wouldn't give for Gerald's Final Countdown... _She paused, and then swallowed. _Gerald..._ "I pass," she finally said.

Nodding, Reston drew again, and then held up his chosen card. "Multiples help. Play Dark Snake Syndrome again."

Again, Laura felt a burning fever along her body, and her entire body felt weak... until she concentrated. _I didn't train in the martial arts for fifteen years just to fall over from a fictional disease,_ she thought, steeling herself. The black bands rose into being on her skin once more, and she took a breath.

"End turn with that," her opponent said.

Laura drew, trying to shake off the haze around her, and then groaned. "I drew the Black Luster Soldier..." The haze flew in around her card, and she winced as it ate at her hand. She quickly slid the card into her Graveyard.

From where he stood, the Pillar merely looked at her.

_No choice,_ Laura thought. "I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back my Sasuke Samurai," she said.

Three gravestones rose into view on her field, and the little warrior rose up before them, bearing light scars from where the Pillar had made his incisions during the autopsy. He did not look happy. (500/400) Kanan gasped at the scars, and the Sasuke Samurai narrowed his eyes further. (500/400 - 700/400)

"Now I'll equip him with my Fusion Sword Murasame Blade," the redhead continued.

Putting his own sword away, the Sasuke Samurai held up his hand. A black hilt formed around it, a long, perfectly-forged blade extending from it. The dim light of the room still glinted off its edge. (700/400 - 1,500/400)

Gesturing at Reston's field, Laura ordered, "Sasuke Samurai, bring down the facedown monster with Hyper-Velocity Wakazashi!"

The samurai gave her a nod, pulled the sword back, and then blurred. He reappeared on the other side of Reston's monster, which was revealed as a long, freakish creature with a single eye. It slid in half before disappearing in a cloud of dust.

"Kisetai," the Pillar of Death said. "Powerful effect... if it had worked. Sasuke Samurai prevents it."

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Laura exhaled again and said, "I end my turn."

Reston drew, and the hissing noise filled the air. This time, however, Laura just glared at him, ignoring the pain that was causing her muscles to jerk. Her Life Points hit 3,700, and Reston's descended to 4,800. After checking his score again, the sick man held up his latest draw, declaring, "Play Poison of the Old Man."

"How fitting," the girl sniped.

"Amusing... Choice given between dealing 800 damage to your Life Points or gaining 1,200 to mine." He paused for a second. "Choose the latter."

A long, tall black bench rose into view beside Reston, two bottles visible on it. One bottle, small and round, contained a foaming purple liquid; the other was taller and wider, and held a thin green liquid. He picked up the taller bottle, the bench and other bottle vanishing, and removed his oxygen mask, hand dropping to close the valve. Taking hold of the bottle's stopper, he yanked it out with a tug and a grunt, and then placed the bottle to his lips and drank.

Only as he performed the last action did Laura realize just how dessicated his muscles were. _That took a lot more effort than it had to..._

The last drops poured away, and Reston dropped the bottle, pulling his oxygen mask back on. The bottle shattered as it hit the floor, and his Life Points rose to 6,000. He then took another card from his hand and played it. "Shallow Grave. Both players set a monster from their Graveyard on their fields..." A card - Laura couldn't see which one - jutted out of Reston's Graveyard, and he set it into place.

Taking out her own Graveyard, Laura fanned it out, trying to determine her best choice. _That'll do,_ she thought, and she set Gearfried into place on her own field.

"One card facedown," the sick man concluded, setting his last card, "and turn ends."

Laura drew, and the purple clouds of the Crush Card gathered around her. She noticed that they had grown much thinner since their activation, and smiled as she revealed her draw. "Sasuke Samurai #2. Far too weak for the Crush Card." The clouds vanished altogether. "In fact, I think I'll summon it."

The little farmer stepped into place, carrying a basket full of knives on his back. He took one out, running it over his fingers. (200/300) Kanan reached down and patted his shoulder, and he crossed weapons with the other Sasuke Samurai. (SS2: 200/300 - 600/300; SS1: 1,500/400 - 1,700/400)

"Threatening Roar," Reston countered, waving to his trap. It lifted, and a resounding roar echoed through the room, sending both Laura and her monsters to their knees from sheer volume. She got up, but her monsters did not.

"Fine," she muttered, reaching down to her Duel Disk. "I flip Gearfried the Iron Knight into Attack Mode and end my turn."

The iron-clad soldier stood up again, punching his knuckles together as he stretched. (1,800/1,000) With the growing army before her, Kanan began to laugh, a laugh that soon passed to the warriors. (Gearfried: 1,800/1,000 - 2,400/1,000; SS2: 600/300 - 800/300; SS1: 1,700/400 - 1,900/400)

With a shrug of his thin shoulders, Reston drew, and then tucked the card into his other hand as the hissing began anew. Once again, both duelists toughed it out, Laura shutting her eyes and tensing all her major muscle groups as Reston just stood there When the pain faded, Laura's Life Points stood at 3,300, and Reston's had gone down to 5,600.

Taking the card he had just drawn, Reston slid it into his Duel Disk, saying, "Play Vase of Unholy Blight. Remove one Dark monster in deck from game - such as Wall of Illusions - to draw three cards." The evil vase appeared before its player, the wall of flesh disappearing into it, before it exploded away. The sick man pulled three cards from the top of his deck, took one, and continued, "Ekibyo Drakmord on Sasuke Samurai #1..."

The tiny samurai dropped his sword, eyes going impossibly wide. The green rashes formed over his body, and he collapsed again, twitching and convulsing as the disease set in once more.

"Set one monster facedown and end turn," the Pillar finished.

_I won't let it happen again,_ Laura vowed as she drew her only card. _This is the turn I get my miraculous turnaround, I just know it!_ She played the card she had drawn, declaring, "Pot of Greed!" Drawing twice more, she stopped and smiled.

"Happy?" the Pillar asked.

"Very." She slid one of the cards into her Graveyard, thinking, _This would just weaken him._ "I discard The Warrior Returning Alive from my hand to summon the Master of Chains in Attack Mode!"

There was a blur in the air in front of Laura, and then a hand emerged, holding a sickle. The hand was followed by a grinning head with blonde hair, wearing a red bandana. Seconds later, the Master of Chains himself leapt out of the blur, still wearing the inexplicable Union Jack. (1,600/1,300) Seeing him, Kanan the Swordmistress blushed, and he just winked back at her. (MoC: 1,600/1,300 - 2,400/1,300; Gearfried: 2,400/1,000 - 2,600/1,000; SS: 1,900/400 - 2,100/400; SS2: 800/300 - 1,000/300)

Laura let out a satisfied sigh on seeing her second-favorite monster, adding, "For each Warrior in my Graveyard, the Master of Chains gains 100 Attack Points, and there are five."

Crossing his sickles over his head, the Master of Chains closed his eyes, body glowing with a red light. (2,400/1,300 - 2,900/1,300)

Reston let his eyes stray to the one card in his hand, and he thought to himself, _Means nothing._

One of Laura's hands thrust towards her opponent's field, and she ordered, "Gearfried, attack the older facedown monster with Iron Edge!"

The Iron Knight was quick to respond, shouting as he hurled himself arms-first at Reston's monster. His blades tore through two very familiar linen-wrapped figures, scattering their body parts in a haze of purple dust. (1,000/1,800)

"Should have figured it," Laura muttered before the dust settled on her and she began coughing, her Life Points dropping to 2,800.

As he adjusted his oxygen mask, Reston noted, "Poison Mummy only logical target for Shallow Grave, after all."

After catching her breath, Laura coughed once more and said to herself, "Most of his monsters have really good defense, so my Sasuke Samurai #2 would probably just bounce off." She raised her voice and ordered, "Master of Chains, attack his other monster with Chain Bomber!"

Readying his weapons, the chain-wielding warrior sprang forward, turning as he landed. He then arced up with one sickle, performing a sharp-edged uppercut that sliced Reston's monster in two. The monster appeared for just a moment as a disgusting, boil-covered rat, which splattered its innards over the Master of Chains as it died.

"Sewer Rat," the Pillar of Death noted. "When destroyed, permanently subtracts 400 Attack Points from killing monster unless monster is Machine or Zombie. Master of Chains neither."

Indeed, making contact with the creature's bodily fluids had not done much for the Master's health. He staggered his way back to Laura's field, his breathing shallow and his face pale, and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of one hand. (2,900/1,300 - 2,500/1,300)

_Sorry about that, Walter,_ the redhead thought before announcing, "That ends this turn." _I do not want to know what would happen if the Sasuke Samurai #2 attacked, even with an empty field._

Once more, Reston drew and the hissing noise set in, accompanied by a red haze as the Dark Snake Syndrome came to life. Laura's fingernails dug so hard into her palms that she bled, and she tensed her limbs so much that there was another stab of pain as she pulled a calf muscle. Her Life Points sank to 2,000, and the Pillar watched without passion as his own Life Points reached 4,800.

He then turned around one card he was holding, letting Laura get a good look at the name and the artwork.

All the color drained from the young woman's face, and she fell onto her hands and knees, her energy gone without warning. She knew that card, and knew that it meant the end. There was nothing she could even do to stop it. "I... I can't lose..." she whispered. "If that card is what it looks like, then I lose right now..."

"It is," Reston said, no emotion in the words. "Summon Tribe-Infecting Virus in Attack Mode."

First came an agonized, reptilian creature with purple skin, a blue flush over its muzzle as it loped along. It then raised its arms, screeching in unspeakable pain, and collapsed dead on the field. Its body rotted away, leaving only a brown cloud hovering over its bones. (1,600/1,000)

Sliding his other card, Symbol of Heritage, into the Graveyard, the sick man said, "Discard one card to destroy all monsters of one type in play. Choose Warriors. All Warriors destroyed."

The brown cloud spread over the field, now hovering over all of Laura's monsters. They seemed unharmed for one painful moment, and then the disease awoke.

One by one, the warriors began to suffer. Their bodies grew thin, muscles eating away at themselves, and sores erupted on their skin. The Sasuke Samurai #2 collapsed, a loud crack coming from his legs as they grew too weak to hold his weight. Nothing showed a sign of infection on Gearfried to begin with... and then his armor clattered to the ground, leaking blood.

Each of Laura's monsters died in turn, shattering as they did so. The last to go was the Master of Chains, who dropped his sickles and turned to her, face hollow. He feebly reached for her, and then keeled over, shattering before his body even hit the ground. All she did was shiver.

"Direct attack," the Pillar of Death said once it was over.

The brown cloud now engulfed her, and she felt her cells die one by one from the inside out... or at least it felt that way. The young woman bit through her cheeks to avoid making noise, clutching at the air as the Tribe-Infecting Virus wreaked its agonies upon her. In due time, it pulled back, and she toppled forward, catching herself on one knee. Her Life Points hit 400.

Blinking again, Reston said, "End turn."

Instincts drove Laura to draw her next card, which she set on top of her Duel Disk without much interest. "Monster in Defense Mode and end turn," she muttered.

The Pillar of Death's hand stopped just short of his deck, and he looked at her, saying, "Draw and Dark Snake Syndrome will end duel. Can make this easier if you surrender."

He couldn't tell whether she had heard him or not. In fact, he could not tell if she was still cognizant of the outside world.

"Your choice," he said, drawing his card. "Gotcha." As he had said, the Dark Snake Syndrome proceeded to activate.

And then it became clear that Laura was still aware and awake. This became clear when she screamed her lungs raw, grabbing her head as the syndrome went to work on her body. The scream was so loud that Reston blinked for the third and last time that duel.

The scream cut off with a whimper as she fell, facedown, to the floor, her Life Points clicking to zero and Reston's to 3,200. One of her legs twitched as she hit the ground.

Reston shook his arm, and the pale Duel Disk evaporated from his limb as he walked up to the girl, hands tucking themselves into his pockets. He sank to his knees, shutting off the valve and removing his oxygen mask. "Will take a few moments for the Darkness Infection to sprout. Question?"

"Who..." Laura's voice barely emerged from her, sounding like a hand was around her throat. "Who are you... who can do that to me?"

The sick man reached into his coat again and took out the scalpel, running its blade along his fingertips. "Was recruited from the back of a prison van," he began. "Hired by Degas and Alexander as Pillar of Death due to experience. Was on way to begin a fifty-year sentence, laid down after conviction on twenty-seven counts of first-degree murder."

A gasp, sounding like a dying mouse, escaped Laura.

"Before arrest, moved from hospital to hospital, seeking two separate goals," Reston continued. "Cure for Feinglory's Systemic Circulatory Deterioration one. Victims another. Intrigued by others on verge of death... sought patients with serious illness and tried to see how much damage their systems needed to shut down. Mixed all sorts of different chemicals to make own poisons, crippled different organs, cut veins and timed bleeding to death..." He twirled the scalpel in his fingers. "Never repeated an experiment. Was caught on twenty-seventh patient. Waste. Needed more data."

One memory, a glimmer of a newspaper article, fought its way to Laura's mind even as she felt her body warping from within. Her head raised, and she whispered, "Your name... it's not Reston..."

"Reston just an alias, like Menardi. Name is Paul Arthur Eckhart."

And the memory sprang to full life, causing the redheaded young woman to gasp once again. "Paul Arthur Eckhart... the Wandering Hospital Reaper..." Her head dropped as she breathed out, "Why..."

Putting his scalpel away, Reston set his bony fingers to her forehead and said, "Sleep now. Disease complete."

Waves of blackness extended from his fingers, and Laura's hands and neck exhibited the black marks. And that was all she ever saw as everything disappeared...

**0000000**

In the mirror room, Degas and Alexander both shuddered, hands clenching into fists. "Disturbing," Alexander muttered. "Then again, we expected that. I almost feel sorry for the poor girl..."

"Save your pity for yourself," the man in black replied, snapping his fingers and turning all but one mirror off. "We are protected only because we control his status as the Pillar of Death. If he didn't risk Stage Three of Feinglory's by attacking us our position would be forfeit."

The man in green muttered, "Like I needed the reminding? But... Despite all of this, I think I see a plan."

"What plan would that be, my friend?"

"I think of it as a reversed Shadow Queen..."

The Hand of Darkness blinked, pushed his shades back up, and smiled. "Ah, I see it now. Where shall we draw them?"

In response, the Dark Conduit held up a hand, shut his eyes, and frowned, directing his thoughts to a mind he did not really want to contact. He then thought, _Reston? Do you have any paper on you? ...your old prescription forms will do. Now, write the following words exactly as I say them..._

**0000000**

Half an hour after Laura's disappearance, Chad and Gerald sat against the car, waiting for her return. Gerald fought the urge to doze, grinding a rock around the palm of one hand as he sat on the hood. Chad, meanwhile, continually rotated the Ring of Purity around his finger.

And then the three bursts sounded, and a figure appeared on the street in the center of the black rings. The tall, thin man stood over it for a second, adjusting someone on the stomach, and then disappeared with three more bursts. Both of the men approached, Duel Disks at the ready...

"Laura," Gerald breathed out, and then he ran to her side, kneeling. She was unconscious, her hair matted with sweat, and on occasion her body jerked. The marks of the Darkness Infection were all too prominent. He took a deep breath and lifted Laura's eyelid, confirming that the pupil was gone and the veins were black.

Chad stood back, just watching his friend. "She lost," he said, stating the obvious without thinking. "The Pillar beat her..." He then tilted his head, seeing something pinned to her shirt, and moved up to them to pick it off. Frowning, he muttered, "I can't read this..."

Carefully setting Laura back down, Gerald stood up and took the note from his friend, briefly taken aback. "It's in German. Let's see..."

"You can read German?" Chad asked.

"And write it, and speak it. My mother was born in Bonn, remember?" He paused, shaking his head. "They know I can read German. Degas and Alexander are taunting me."

Rather than ask, Chad said, "Well, read it..."

Clearing his throat, Gerald read through the note silently, and then slowly translated, "'To the Chosen of the Light: Fear not for your friend. She will not get up and attack you. This strain of the Darkness Infection is exclusive to Reston, Pillar of Death. She is in a nightmare-filled coma, but at least you will not have to duel her. To cure a Pillar's victims, you must defeat the Pillar. This one is willing to take that challenge, and plans to meet you in a place for fun in your life. See you there. Signed, Alexander, courtesy of Reston.'"

"'A place for fun in your life?'" the taller of the two pondered. "Where would that be?"

Gerald's eyes went wide, and he replied, "That's an advertising slogan for the Mall of America. That's in Bloomington, just outside the Twin Cities proper... Reston is in the Mall. And if he's in the Mall, that means everyone in it is in danger."

"Yes, but he teleports," Chad noted. "So we can't exactly outrun him, can we? If he's going to infect everyone there, he's probably done that by now."

"Sometimes I wish you weren't right, my friend."

"_You_ wish that?"

"Enough." Gerald sighed, folding and pocketing the note. He then knelt and picked Laura up, again surprised by how light she actually was. "All we can do tonight is get her back to the hotel and make her comfortable. Attacking a Pillar just off a victory is asking for the Infection. In the morning we will head to the Mall." With that, he headed for the car.

Chad blinked a few times at Gerald's matter-of-fact statements, and then pondered aloud, "We seem remarkablely calm and collected under the circumstances. I mean, one of our closest friends was just defeated and stricken with an evil disease..."

"I think it's shock. At any moment, we may-" And then Gerald stopped, having set Laura in the back seat of the Corolla. He paused, and then slumped over her, head in his hands. A moment later he started to sob.

With nothing else he could do, the tall man patted his crying friend on the back and slid into the front seat of the car, starting the engine. Something caught his eyes, and he turned to the rear-view mirror. He could have sworn there was a fireball reflected in it...

...and the fireball hit the ground next to the car, and Lucifer Allumette stepped out of the night. He turned to the backseat, saw Gerald crying over Laura, and shook his head. "Miss Vesnic lost, I presume?"

Chad nodded, sliding the Ring of Purity off of his finger and holding it out. The Beloved of Fire blinked and took it back, sliding it onto his own finger again.

"The Pillar of Death is at the Mall of America," Chad told Lucifer. "Find Sol Kilkarn and Demetrius Lark and tell them we'll be there tomorrow morning. We need everyone we can get against this one."

"Understood. Good evening to you, Monsieur Montmelier."

With a nod, Chad drove away, headed back towards the Minneapolis Hilton, and Lucifer stepped away. A moment later, the ball of fire flew off into the sky.

**0000000**

Evening slipped into night, and Lucifer delivered the message given to him. In their own hotel rooms, Sol Kilkarn and Demetrius Lark prepared for the next morning's journey.

Outside of the city limits but still within the domain of the Darkness, the Mall of America was pitch-black. Most of the lights were off, and odds were good that as long as the Pillar of Death stalked the hallways they would remain off. Reston himself strode out of the third-floor food court, stepping over an unconscious Darkness Infected on his way out. He had no need for sleep.

Without turning a thought to his actions, the Pillar of Death found himself descending a deactivated escalator, and then another, moving towards a very specific set of escalators. These he moved down, the only sound as he moved being his breathing, accompanied by the occasional hiss as he drew from the oxygen tank.

Now he had entered an underground aquarium, the famous Underwater World, and his shoes clicked against an unmoving conveyor belt. The fish swam away from the Plexiglass of the tunnels as he walked by. Here, the lights were still on, and Reston's eyes narrowed as he walked.

After a few minutes, he came across another figure in the tunnel. It was a heavily muscled Japanese man with spiky blue-black hair, wearing a single blue garment, and he was retying a blue headband around the bottom of his hairstyle. The marks of the Darkness Infection showed clearly on his body, its fringes surrounding his scars.

"Evening," Reston said in accented Japanese.

As he pulled the headband tight, the man replied, "I suppose it is. It's hard to tell time without being able to see the sky. Mind if I ask why you came down here?"

"Chosen and friends coming tomorrow. Will lure them down here. Need preparation."

"Please..." Picking up a Battle City-model Duel Disk, the man tapped its deck. "I don't care how good they are - American duelists are overrated! One good gale would fold them! Why do I _need_ to prepare?"

The Pillar of Death glared at him, causing the man to briefly shake. "Top American duelist among their numbers. Could prove a challenge." There was a pause, and then he held up one hand, several cards tucked into it. "Take this. If Chosen, Montmelier, or Kilkarn duel you, do not use. If Lark duels you, use."

Nodding, the Japanese man took them, setting them next to his Duel Disk as he put both down. "Got it. You know... I kind of hope I duel that Lark guy. Americans always seem to assume they can outdo other countries. It would be a real honor to defeat their Number One!"

"Indeed."

With a yawn, the man stretched out on the floor. "Still... no need to worry until the morning..."

Reston tilted his head, taking another drag off the mask. "Comfortable?" he asked.

"When you're on the sea, you have to sleep whenever you get the chance. At least this isn't made of wood..." And before the Pillar could ask further, the man was snoring.

_Odd,_ Reston thought before he headed for the escalator again.

**SEWER RAT**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: Lv. 4/EARTH/Beast/1400/1000  
Image: A filthy, disgusting rodent, covered in sores.  
Efect: Any monster other than a Machine- or Zombie-type monster that battles this monster loses 400 ATK Points as long as they remain face-up on the field.  
_Note: This card first appeared in Cyber Commander's "Yu-Gi-Oh Jr.: Legacy of the Duelist". All creative credit goes to him._

**ACID SLIME**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: Lv. 3/WATER/Aqua/800/1000  
Image: A small blue slime, vaguely X-shaped.  
Effect: When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle, your opponent takes 800 points of Direct Damage to their Life Points.  
_Note: This card was used by Mad Dog in the GX episode "No Pain, No Gain". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

_Coming next chapter: Time for a cameo from the anime... Early in the morning, Gerald and his allies make their way to the Mall of America, but shopping is not on the agenda. In the tunnels of Underwater World, a menace awaits, prepared to attack whoever comes his way. Demetrius, however, owes Gerald a favor, and now is the time to pay it back. Can the first among equals bring down this underwater nightmare? The next chapter is Chapter Twenty-Seven, and its name is "Crimson Tide"._


	28. Crimson Tide

_Author's note: This story is set in 2005. For that reason, the Park at MOA is still called "Camp Snoopy" in this story. In addition, certain parts of the Mall's layout is different in this story from how it is in real life._

**_The name is Demetrius Lark, first among equals and the top-ranked duelist in the United States... and Canada, for that matter. I'd be Number One in Mexico as well, except I haven't competed down there yet. Amazing for someone who only discovered this game at age 30, isn't it? I came across Duel Monsters when my older son, Mercutio, told me about a game his friend had started playing. The details intrigued me, and I took it up myself. After a month I swept the local game shop's tournies._**

**_I've seen a lot of oddities in my life. Over my years, I've encountered ghosts, one of which I had a part in exorcising; I fought a swordmaster blade-to-blade on the wing of a barnstorming plane; I studied meditation in Tibet, where I learned to create a tulpa; I've even dueled a sock puppet (not by choice, mind you). But the situation in the Twin Cities is unlike anything I've run into before, and if Gerald Laxina and his friends hadn't aided me I would be in deep trouble. When they retrieved my deck from my tulpa, I vowed to repay them._**

**_Last night one of Gerald's party was defeated by a Pillar. The poor girl's got the Darkness Infection now, and the Pillar retreated to the Mall of America. Gerald's called in his debt, and now I will repay it. We've journied to the Mall, and together we will bring down the Darkness... at least, that's the hope. But things just took a bad turn._**

**_One thing I have always wanted to do is duel Yugi Motoh. Imagine, the King of Games versus the First Among Equals! This is as close as I'm likely to get, though - my opponent once dueled Yugi himself. And given how bad my situation is at the moment, I may be a great deal farther from dueling Yugi than I thought..._**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Crimson Tide**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Alexander could not sleep. He could feel Bethany curled against him, her breathing a steady rhythm, but her presence somehow failed to provide the usual calming effect that it imparted on him. Unconsciously, he began to stroke her hair, whereupon she murmured and tucked herself closer to him.

After about ten minutes, he glanced to the clock on his nightstand. It showed 3:51 A.M., whereupon he smirked. _It's today,_ he thought. _I never considered that. _He continued to look at the clock until the numbers clicked to 3:52 A.M.

_I give up, _he thought, and he carefully extracted himself from his beloved. She curled against herself in his absence, not waking up. Throwing on a green bathrobe, Alexander stepped out of the door.

The next room he stepped into was Caiside's prison, where the maniac hung from his manacles and shook slightly, standing on his toes. He raised his head on hearing the Dark Conduit approach, and giggled to himself.

"You seem entertained," Alexander said as he finished tying his robe. "Have you seen anything recently?"

Another giggle left Caiside as he pulled himself up on the chains, muttering, "No alias... The girl of chaos using her real name... not always the case... Athena... sounds like Bethany, but what sense does it make..."

It took an effort of will for Alexander not to break Caiside's ribs on hearing that. He took a few deep breaths, muttering, "You will not speak of Bethany that way, Caiside. Tell me... have you had any visions recently?"

The madman shook his head, dropping in his chains. "Angels are falling... Twenty two, twenty three... Twenty three, twenty two... Which is which? Can never tell..."

"I admit we have no worry about expenses," the Dark Conduit said, grabbing one of Caiside's arms, "but we still provide you with your upkeep, my prophet. Now I suggest focusing yourself until you can see something that looks less like a hallucination and more like the future. Understood?"

A glimpse of fear crossed Caiside's face, and then he nodded. Alexander released him, and the madman looked to the ceiling. And then his eyes rolled back in his head and he muttered in a different voice, "All comes to a head..."

Alexander crossed his arms and smiled, listening.

"Darkness spreads..." Caiside swallowed and continued. "Confusion shall reign. Two of the same line meet in the night, and what shall result? Long-parted threads retie, and pain and suffering flare from it. But which is Rom-"

Before the man in green could even realize he was doing it, his fist flew out, slamming itself across the madman's face. Caiside snapped his head to the side and collapsed in his chains, knocked out. Withdrawing his hand, Alexander caressed his knuckles, teeth clenched.

"Didn't like what you were hearing?" Degas said from the doorway, adjusting his sunglasses. "A pity... we could have used the rest of that vision."

Turning on his heel, Alexander shoved his hands into the robe's pockets. "That wasn't a vision. It was his lunacy at work again."

"As you say." The man in black lifted a hand, and then let it drop, adding, "It will be a few hours before Gerald and his party set out again. Shall we check on our other projects?"

Still ashamed at his anger, Alexander nodded.

**0000000**

At dawn Gerald awoke. His back and stomach were both killing him, and his knees were sore. He realized he was kneeling, and then staggered to his feet, rubbing the soreness out of his legs. As he did so, Gerald blinked, his eyes feeling sandy. Judging from the evidence, he had spent much of the night bent over something and crying.

The lazy young man then looked down and saw where he'd spent the night: next to Laura's bed, with the unconscious girl laying on top of the sheets. Her hands and neck were marked with the Darkness Infection, and there was a dent next to her side, with two patchy spots that were still moist to the touch in it.

This shook away the last traces of the amnesia granted by waking up from Gerald's mind, and he set his head on his hand, giving a weak groan. The events of the previous evening were playing themselves out in his memory.

"If it helps," Chad's voice came from the next bed, still groggy, "few people can truly say they've ever cried themselves to sleep."

"I've already had that experience," Gerald replied, rubbing at his eyes. "Once you have done it before, having it again is not something you rush to doing." At that point, he staggered towards the bathroom, adjusting his rumpled shirt and pantslegs. He happened to glance into the mirror as he entered the bathroom, and he couldn't help noting how bloodshot his eyes were. For a brief moment, he imagined what that would look like Darkness Infected, and then shook it off.

Sitting up in his own bed, Chad stretched out, feeling his joints pop a small amount. He then slid out of the bed, stretching further. "Something tells me you keep the details of that previous experience to yourself."

Gerald's voice emerged from the bathroom, a sting added to its usual bored drawl: "Very perceptive."

"Still, at least you got some sleep last night. Didn't that use to be a problem?"

"Chad." The voice had a sharp edge on it. "Now is not the time to joke about this."

The tall man shut up and went to the drawers, searching through them.

A moment later, Gerald emerged from the bathroom, having arranged his hair into something that could pass for orderly. He moved to Laura's bedside again, running his hand across her face, and then straightened out his sleeves. Taking a deep breath, he knelt and retrieved his Duel Disk, brushing it off.

By the time Chad, now clad in a simple denim shirt and white pants, emerged from the bathroom, Gerald was standing by the room's minfridge, halfway through a cup of yogurt. A banana peel laid next to the TV, apparently tossed aside.

"Eat quickly," Gerald told his friend. "Once you're done we move for the Mall of America."

Even as he knelt, searching through the fridge, Chad said, "Gerald... I told Sol and Demetrius we would go to the Mall in the morning, but I didn't say 'by dawn's first light'..."

"The situation is serious enough. They will be there. If not, we fight alone." The young man stroked his fingers through his hair, still messy as only brown hair could be, and noted, "Normally I would agree with you, but I refuse to leave Laura like that longer than I have to."

"That's another point," Chad replied as he pulled back from the fridge, pouring himself a glass of milk. "The damage is done. Can't we afford to take a little while to prepare?"

Gerald shook his head. "We gave the Pillar of Death last night," he said. "I will not give him another morning to spread the Darkness Infection. Besides..." He paused, shivering slightly before finishing the sentence. "How can we prepare for that? Our decks are ready. In this battle, that is all we can count on."

It was 6:44 in the morning when the Corolla GTS left the Minneapolis Hilton's parking lot.

**0000000**

The previous evening, when Lucifer had relayed Chad's message to Sol and Demetrius, the two had given the same response: "We will be there... but how will we get there?"

And so Lucifer had agreed to drive them. He was already awake by six in the morning, adjusting the Ring of Purity on his finger as he drained a cup of coffee. As usual, he was in an impeccable white suit, his hair excellently combed, but there was a trace of fire flickering around his sleeves.

"Dad," Vivienne murmured as she stepped into the kitchen. Her hair was disheveled, and she wore a long red nightgown that didn't quite touch her ankles. She was running a brush through her hair as she spoke. "Why are you up so early?"

"Because Monsieurs Laxina and Montmelier will be," the Beloved of Fire replied, pouring himself another cup. "If Monsieurs Kilkarn and Lark wish to aid zem, zey will have to be at ze Mall of America as early as ze Chosen." He then raised a hand before adding, "And you will not be helping zem."

"But father!" the girl yelled in French. "Do you expect me to just let Chad walk into it by himself?"

Lucifer switched to French in order to reply, "First, young lady, he is not alone. In fact, his group is larger than before. Second, I refuse to let you anywhere near a Pillar of Darkness. Finally, as my daughter, you, dear Vivienne, were born in the camp of Dreams. You could not help Chad yourself without breaking the rules, and I could not help you get out of that!"

All of his points were valid, but that did not stop Vivienne from scowling as she stood in the doorway. The scowl faded over the next few minutes, and by the time Lucifer drove away from the house, she watched with a look of deep concern.

**0000000**

At the desk in his hotel room, Demetrius Lark bent over a piece of paper, pen in hand. He paused for a moment, organizing a stray idea, and then began writing.

"'My dear boys,'" he said aloud as he wrote, "'if this letter ever finds its way into your hands, it means my career has come to a sudden halt. Blame no one but me - I chose to encounter the threats here directly, with a full understanding as to what it might cost me, and I paid the price without flinching. I may not be dead, exactly, but I will never return. I would go into details as to what I mean by such words, but the details do not make sense to me. Please forgive me for not watching you grow up.'"

He paused, blinked the stray tears away from his eyes, and resumed writing. "'Mercutio, Iago, if I am gone then it will be your turn to carry our duty and our blessing - the Lark family's legacy. Our family has held its name high for several hundred years now, and you must never let it falter. Between you, my boys, carry on our family's traditions. Never step back from a challenge. Always keep your promises and repay your debts. But most of all, whatever you do with your life, do it with dignity. That dignity has maintained us since the first days of the family, and it shall last us until our final moments.'"

Demetrius fell silent at that point, but the pen moved on, and he sank into directions for his attorney and accountant. It had taken five minutes to write his message to his sons. It took the better part of an hour to set up his legal affairs.

Once the letter was finished, Demetrius folded it, slid it into an envelope, and sealed it. He then wrote, "To the family of Demetrius Lark" on the flap, stood up, and slid his Duel Disk back onto his arm. One good tug tightened the straps, and he sighed in satisfaction. "And into the breach I go," he said to himself.

A loud honk sounded outside, and Demetrius flung open his window to see a frustrated Lucifer sitting behind the wheel of a car. "Doesn't anyone have patience anymore?" he yelled down.

**0000000**

As cheap as Sol Kilkarn's hotel room was, it still contained a Gideon Bible. The young man had that open on his lap as he worked his way through a few pieces of toast, sipping a glass of milk with the hand not turning the pages. He frowned at one passage in particular, thinking, _The translator thought that was a good wording? Who'd they hire, Jack Chick?_

The young man closed the book and set it aside before he slid off the bed, stretching when his feet touched the ground. "Huh..." he whispered to himself. "It was Saturday two days ago. Grandmother would kill me if she knew how I'd spent the Sabbath." The Star of David on the chain around his neck tapped against his chest as he kept stretching, and he frowned. His grandmother had given him that piece of jewelry, and he briefly thought, _She lives in Mankato. Has the Darkness Infection reached that far?_

Shaking his head, Sol grabbed his milk and finished it before wiping his mouth clean. "No time to worry about that," he said aloud. "The best solution to that problem is to finish what I started. Once the Darkness Infection is gone, she'll be safe and I will have paid my penance all in one go."

He was out the door just as Lucifer's car pulled up.

**0000000**

By 8:00 in the morning, two cars drove up the ramp into the Mall of America's parking garage. They moved up to the third level and then stopped, whereupon five men climbed out. Four of them were wearing Duel Disks.

"Remember," Sol said as they walked towards the Skyway to the Mall, "we're parked in the Hawaii lot."

The instant they stepped onto the Skyway, all five men recoiled. A number of unconscious people were scattered about, every one of them marked with the Darkness Infection. Gerald and Sol glanced to each other, and then the two moved around the Skyway, moving the victims into the recovery position.

Shaking his head, Chad said aloud, "We can't afford to do that for everyone, guys. The entire mall is probably like this, so get ready for it. Don't forget - we beat the Pillar of Death, everyone gets better."

Once the last person was in place, the group moved on, pushing through the doors and stepping into the world's largest shopping mall.

Bodies lay everywhere. Some lay across the floor of the walkways, contorted into expressions of pain, while some were slumped over benches, hit while resting. The shops were filled with the Infected, whether caught on their way to the doors and now laying half-out of them, unconscious and laying against the racks, or the clerks slumped over their counters, brought down on the job.

The sheer darkness caught all five of the intruders off-guard - with only natural light streaming in through the central skylight, the Mall of America was a very shadowy place. And without any music playing over the sound system, it was a very quiet one as well. After a moment of gathering his courage, Gerald turned to Lucifer and asked, "You won't be able to help us against Reston, will you?"

"Sadly, non," the Beloved of Fire answered, adjusting his sleeves. "Dreams are still neutral in zis whole affair. I help you as I can because I like to."

"In that case, go and turn the lights on. That won't give either sides an advantage."

Nodding, Lucifer disappeared in a flash of flame, replaced by a fireball which shot away. With his absence, the party inched further into the Mall.

By the time they reached Tiger Sushi, all four realized they had no idea what to do. They knelt in front of the large glass panel behind the restaurant, whereupon Sol asked, "So... now what do we do?"

Gerald shut his eyes for a moment, and then said, "There are four of us and four floors to this building. However, the fourth floor is just a movie theater and a handful of bigger-name stores and clubs, so unless Reston is also the Pillar of Entertainment I doubt he would be up there." He paused before continuing, "I will search the first floor. Demetrius, search the second. Sol, you check the third. Chad, you check Camp Snoopy."

"Why do we need another person for Camp Snoopy?" Chad asked.

"Because of it, the first floor is twice the size of the others, so having two people will just make things easier."

Overhead, the lights came on, and everyone blinked. Now the full extent of the carnage became clear, and all four men gulped. "Who could do that to an amusement park?" Demetrius questioned.

"The Darkness," Gerald replied. "Degas and Alexander are not in the business of killing people, but rendering them helpless does not harm whatever moral code they have." He sighed, still wincing on Alexander's name, and then stood up to dust off his knees. "Everyone, be prepared to duel. Now... let us split up."

The four nodded, and then Demetrius headed out along the walkway while everyone else went for the escalators.

**0000000**

At that moment, the Pillar of Death was moving along the first floor. He stopped, shutting his eyes, and then exhaled through clenched teeth. "Chosen of Light approaches," he muttered. "Not good. Not ready. Must lure him into trap."

He stepped into the nearby Barnes and Noble and slid behind one of the shelves, waiting.

**0000000**

Stepping off the escalator, Gerald sighed and adjusted his Duel Disk. "The last time I was at the MOA," he noted aloud, "I won my Crush Card in a tournament. Wonder if anyone I know is here?"

It hit him that he hadn't dueled in a while, and he began to wonder if he still had his edge...

...and then his stomach turned over. He began to sweat, and his entire body shook. After a moment, he concentrated, and a wave of light passed over him. "The Pillar's nearby," he said under his breath.

And then the tall,thin man who had stopped their car the day before strode out of Barnes and Noble, holding an oxygen mask to his face. He turned to face Gerald, and then extended one arm, beckoning him forward.

With no other option, Gerald followed, his eyes locked on the Pillar of Death. Reston moved slowly away from the bookstore, rounded a corner, and stepped onto the inactive escalator to the Underwater Adventures Aquarium. He paused and beckoned again before descending.

Storming after him, Gerald moved down the steps and followed Reston. The Pillar in question moved past the entrance and into the tunnels of the underground aquarium itself. After a few moments more, however, he came to a stop.

Before the lazy young man could even shout out a challenge, there were three bursts of darkness, and Reston disappeared.

"Damn it," Gerald muttered. He then admired his surroundings - he was at the center of a Plexiglass tube, which arched up and over his head. Rocks and coral lined the sides, and fish swam about outside the tunnel, which shimmered as the water flowed about it. It was quite a peaceful place.

Footsteps sounded on the tunnel floor at that point, and Gerald spun to face further down...

**0000000**

"Nothing so far," Demetrius said to himself as he moved along, cane in one hand and Duel Disk on the other arm. He then thought to himself, _And of course you would see nothing. What importance are you to the Darkness by this point? Without the Darkness Infected to thwack, your mileage has plummeted._

He then happened to glance over one side of the walkway and saw a tall, thin figure that could only be Reston luring Gerald towards Underwater Adventures. Something rang false about the entire situation, and Demetrius thought, _My friend there is being drawn into a trap. I could just let him fight his way out... _

He shook his head. _If I wanted to break my vow I could do that. But I must repay him for the earlier assistance, and now's the right time._

Without second thoughts, Demetrius ran for the escalator.

**0000000**

On the third floor, Sol Kilkarn passed through the North Food Court, his stomach rumbling. He had failed to get breakfast that morning, and it was starting to bother him. Unfortunately, all the fast food stands were empty - the clerks were out with the Darkness Infected behind their counters, and the machinery was off.

And then he passed the Taco Bell counter, and realized it was still operating. A very nervous young woman stood behind it, looking around herself every few seconds.

When he apprached her, the woman let out a panicked shriek, and then blinked a few times and exhaled. "Thank goodness," she said, adjusting her uniform hat. "I thought you were one of them!"

"Actually, I came here to settle that problem," Sol replied. "Why are you still working here? Why didn't you flee once you realized you weren't infected?"

"I tried," the woman replied, blinking her light blue eyes. "But the doors were locked from the outside, and the lights were off, so I had no way to find another exit. Ever try to sleep surrounded by the comatose?" She then giggled despite herself. "I wonder if I still count as on-shift."

Returning the laugh, Sol stretched out and asked, "Would it be pushing it to ask for two soft tacos?"

In response, the woman smiled and went to work, hands a blur. Judging from the speed of her actions, she'd spent a while at this job. It was only a few moments later before she handed Sol his order.

"Thanks," the young man asked. He set his food on a table and went for his wallet...

...and then the woman started coughing. She looked at him apologetically, and then coughed again. The coughs strengthened, and on the last one the marks of the Darkness Infection crossed her hands and neck. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and the clerk fell behind her counter unconscious.

And the friers and other equipment all shut down in turn, whereupon the North Food Court went dead.

Sol blinked, but as he sat down, pure panic ran through his veins. He shivered, sweating immensely, and then took the Star of David out from under his shirt and held it in front of himself, muttering every prayer his grandmother had ever taught him.

"Only works on vampires," a thin voice replied. With that, the Pillar of Death emerged from the shadows, arms crossed before him. He took his oxygen mask and put it on, pulling the straps into place.

There was a pause, and then Sol said, "Reston... can this wait a moment? I haven't eaten all day."

After a moment, the Pillar of Death blinked and nodded.

**0000000**

Gerald crossed his arms, looking over the other man in the tunnel. The newcomer was easily as tall as he was, and had much larger muscles, which rippled everywhere they could on his frame. Scars crossed much of his exposed skin, and most of his skin was exposed, as he wore only a single garment, which ended above his knees and left his arms and legs uncovered. He had a large amount of spiky black hair, held in place with a headband, and a Duel Disk was strapped to one arm.

As the other man was wearing disturbingly little, the marks of the Darkness Infection showed everywhere. They wrapped around his legs, marked his hands, crossed his chest, and finally met at his neck. But they still weren't enough to hide his face, a face that held a certain amount of renown...

"Impossible," Gerald muttered. "How on Earth did the Darkness manage to pull Mako Tsunami into this?" He then shook his head. "Oh, right. The Pillar of Death can teleport. Apparently across the planet."

Lifting his Duel Disk, Mako cleared his throat, and then yelled a challenge. Unfortunately for Gerald, he yelled it in clear, loud Japanese.

The lazy young man blinked, and then said (in clear, quiet English), "Could you repeat that?"

Mako blinked as well, and then muttered something Gerald could not translate.

"Well, what were you expecting?" Gerald said to himself. "He's a Japanese fisherman who likely stayed out of the education system. He likely doesn't understand a word of English. Pity I only know enough Japanese to get myself into a fight." He lifted his head and asked, "_Spreichen sie Deutch?_"

Whatever Mako said in reply, his tone made it clear he didn't speak German.

Gerald nodded, and then murmured, "Drat. Still..." He activated his Duel Disk and looked up, speaking only to himself. "I've dueled someone who couldn't talk at all, so this is actually less of a challenge on that score."

Impressed, the fisherman shouted a boisterous remark and activated his own Duel Disk...

...but before either could draw their opening hands, another voice yelled, "Hold!"

Demetrius Lark ran up the tunnel of Underwater Adventures, holding his tophat in place with one hand. He looked between Gerald and his opponent before asking, "Mako Tsunami?"

"Yes. How the Darkness got him I don't want to know. Now if you excuse me..." Gerald began.

Holding up his hand, Demetrius turned to Mako and said in fluent (if shakily pronounced) Japanese, "Excuse me, Mr. Tsunami..."

The fisherman jumped back, and then glanced over Demetrius before replying, "Wait... You're Demetrius Lark, aren't you?"

"You know me?" the older man asked, setting his cane against the side of the tunnel.

"Indeed, American champion. Since the moment I came to this country I was hoping to duel you. I was told to go after the Chosen of the Light..." Mako then laughed, shaking his head. "But why duel someone when I'd have to resort to gestures and grunting to get my point across? At least you speak my language, if not very well."

Frowning, Gerald said, "Demetrius, I can take him..."

"No, you cannot," Demetrius replied. "As much as it hurts to say it, I don't have the backbone to face a Pillar. Too much risk of marring my record, and..." He wiped a tear from his eye. "He scares me. You've done this before, so you know how to deal with it. But if Mako defeated you, who would stop Reston?"

"You have a point."

As he continued, Demetrius grinned. "And remember, I have a debt to pay. Allow this Lark the chance to make up what he owes, won't you?"

Nodding, Gerald shut off his Duel Disk and stepped back. "Good luck, Demetrius."

"Luck?" the older man asked, frowning. "Don't need it, my boy. I'm just good!"

Gerald walked away, and Demetrius stepped into his place, activating his Duel Disk.

"So you are the Number One ranked duelist in the United States?" Mako asked, resetting his Duel Disk. After a moment, it registered Demetrius as his opponent.

"Indeed," Demetrius replied, switching back to Japanese as he tipped his top hat. "Earned that title when I swept Colorado's State Finals."

The other man caught Demetrius off-guard by bursting into laughter. "Like that's anything to boast about!" Mako said once he had himself under control. "Please... all the good duelists are from Japan. Have you ever read the global standings?"

"I'm number twenty..."

"And you're the only American in the Top _Fifty!_" the fisherman shouted. "All being Number One in the United States means is that all your fellow countrymen are worse than you are!" He drew his opening hand.

As he drew his own opening hand, Demetrius shouted back, "Get off of it! Where are you in the Top _100_? Nowhere, that's where you are!"

"If you had ever faced real competiton you wouldn't be on that chart either! And I'm just the man to give it to you!"

Both Life Point counters sprang to 8,000, and the duel began.

Taking two cards from his hand, Mako slapped them onto his Duel Disk, announcing, "I set one monster in Defense Mode and one card facedown. Your turn, landlubber!"

"Please do not start with the sea jokes, it's too early in the day," Demetrius replied. He paused as he drew his sixth card, thinking, _How odd. Mako Tsunami is a figure of minor renown for having dueled both Yugi Motoh and Joey Wheeler... more the former than the latter... and I have received a great deal of notice as well. That means both of our decks are a matter of public record, which means both of us can see what's coming. And I know that trick all too well._

Looking to his draw, Demetrius thought, _I can at least take advantage of this._ "I set two cards facedown," he began, "and set one monster in Defense Mode..."

"And I activate my Trap Card!" Mako shouted.

Clutching his ears, Demetrius replied, "I'm standing right here, you git, you don't have to yell! The acoustics in this place make you loud enough as it is!"

"Sorry," Mako said. "Either way, I activate Torrential Tribute."

For a moment, there was nothing. A sound like rushing water echoed down the tunnel, however, and soon a raging tidal wave rounded a corner, sweeping towards them. Mako's facedown Giant Jellyfish and Demetrius's Chain Thrasher were both caught up in it, and when the water settled down, both their fields were clean of monsters. Mako had nothing, and all Demetrius had were his facedown cards.

"Just as I thought," the older man mused, stroking his goatee. "That will be my turn."

Nodding, the Darkness Infected drew, thinking, _He saw that coming. But... my deck is prepared for his. I anticipated him taking over for Gerald, and Degas and Alexander saw fit to lend me a few cards for this duel... _"Again, I will set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode," Mako said. "And then it will be your turn."

Drawing, Demetrius said, "What a coincidence. I will set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode as well." He then waved. "Take your turn."

"Indeed." Mako drew and slid the card into place. "I play my Pot of Greed!" As always with duelists, he ignored the hologram as he drew two cards. He then held one up and declared, "I activate my Terraforming Magic Card!"

_Here we go,_ the older man thought.

A beam of blue light shone in front of Mako, and he watched it flicker past multiple images before he reached out, touching one in particular. It became a card, and he opened his Field Slot as he slid it into place. "A fisherman is nothing without the sea. I'm never used to the feel of dry ground under my feet, so enough of it! I play Umi!"

At first, it seemed like the walls of the Underwater Adventure tunnel had cracked. Water leaked down them and onto the floor, and the cracks spread; soon water dripped everywhere. And then there were three loud cracking noises in turn before the Plexiglass shattered altogether, pouring water into the tunnel.

Soon, all that was left was the conveyor both stood on, suspended in the middle of the ocean. The sun shone down, and the water rippled around both duelists, fish swimming by. It took a good deal of concentration for Demetrius to note the flaws in the hologram, all that kept him from believing he was submerged.

"Ah..." Mako sighed his satisfaction, arms crossed for a moment. "Just like my life on the sea. Now I'll Flip Summon my Star Boy, granting all Water Monsters - himself included - 500 extra Attack Points..."

A red starfish sank into place next to Mako, but while most starfish were content with five limbs, this one had a single eye and a purple-lipped mouth. He idly spun in place. (500/550 - 1,000/550) The current spun him some more, but the starfish seemed happy. (1,000/550 - 1,200/750)

"And now I summon my Great White!" the fisherman continued.

Both men went pale as the Duel Disks began to play a very familar "bum-bum" theme. They stared aghast at their machinery, Demetrius wondering, _Good Lord, how much did Kaibacorp have to pay for the rights to THAT?_

As the music continued, a shadowy, finned figure swam past on one side. It swam past on the other, and as the music hit its climax it dove down onto Mako's field. For all intents and purposes, it was a great white shark, teeth sharp and skin rough. However, it also had very large arms under its gills. (1,600/800) The Star Boy and the current caught up to it, and it flexed its muscles. (1,600/800 - 2,300/1,000)

Wiping some sweat from his brow, Mako muttered, "I apologize for my Duel Disk's cheesiness... either way, Great White, attack Lark's facedown card with Tension Bite!"

The shark hurled itself at Demetrius's monster, whereupon Demetrius countered, "I activate my Trap, A Feint Plan! Now my facedown monsters are safe from attack for one turn, and that's all the monsters I have!"

A dizzying array of currents blew into place, throwing the Great White every direction on the compass. It disengaged, shuddering a bit, before swimming back to Mako's field. Its dead black eyes locked on the opponent.

"One card facedown," Mako noted, "and my turn will stop."

Demetris drew, reached down, and flipped a card over, announcing, "I flip my Penguin Soldier into Attack Mode, activating his effect and sending two monsters back to your hand... and you only have two monsters to begin with!"

The miniscule armored penguin rose into view, quacking slightly. The currents of Umi boosted its confidence, and it stood straighter. (750/500 - 950/700) Holding out its sword, the Penguin Soldier began to spin it.

Underneath Mako's monsters, the water began to spin, forming twin whirlpools. Both the Great White and the Star Boy tried to swim away, but the undertow was too great, and they were sucked in. A moment later, the whirlpools reversed direction, spitting out two cards. They arced through the air and landed in Mako's hand.

_Enjoy this while you can,_ gaijin, Mako thought to himself.

"Now I will summon Mataza the Zapper," the older man continued.

For a moment, the ocean around them grew quite dark. A series of ripples broke the stillness of the water in front of Demetrius, and when the lights came back on the armored ronin stood before them, one hand on his sword. (1,300/800)

After a moment's consideration, Demetrius called out, "Penguin Soldier, direct attack!"

As the waterfowl began his charge, Mako shouted, "Activate Trap! Tornado Wall prevents me from taking damage from attacks when Umi is in play... but then, you've seen Battle City, haven't you?"

The Penguin Soldier was halfway down the conveyor, sword raised, when the ocean shook around them. And then the waters parted around them as a massive blast of wind split the ocean in two. This wind became a tremendous tornado, hurling the penguin back to its owner. Soon the tornado died down, and as it faded the waters flowed back together.

There was a moment's pause, and then a school of clownfish swam in front of Demetrius. _Huh,_ he thought. _Nemo._ "I activate my Compulsory Evacuation Device to send Penguin Soldier back to my hand."

A splash sounded overhead, and a large cannon sank down to land on the conveyor. Quacking, the penguin loaded itself into it. With a shuddering boom, the cannon fired, and a card hit Demetrius's hand.

"And that will be all," he said.

The fisherman drew his next card, took a different one, and threw it onto the field. "I summon Penguin Torpedo!" he declared.

For once, the name said it all. It was a torpedo shaped like a penguin, and it hovered in front of Mako with a sense of menace. (750/650 - 950/650)

"When will wonders ever cease?" Demetrius mused.

"Spare your sarcasm. Penguin Torpedo, Fire One!"

A burst of superheated water emerged from the Penguin Torpedo's thrusters, and it launched toward Demetrius, rippling the waters before it.

"I activate my Trap Card, Ordeal of a Traveler!" Demetrius countered.

The entire earth shook around the two duelists, throwing the Pengun Torpedo off-course and cutting off its thrusters. From beneath the conveyor, the mighty sphinx rose up, its eyes flickering with purple flames.

Once he had regained his footing, Demetrius explained, "Pick one card in my hand and name its type - Monster, Magic, or Trap. Choose correctly and the attack continues... although I note Mataza will cut your torpedo in half. Choose wrong and your armament goes back to your hand." He shuffled the three cards he held and extended his arm. "So?"

Mako shut his eyes, arms crossing, and thought, _I know at least one card in his hand. I just need to pick which one it is. _"I choose..." He pointed. "The card on your right, and I say it's a Monster!"

The older man's jaw dropped, and he turned the card over, revealing it to be his Penguin Soldier. "You're correct, but what good will it do you?"

"Did I forget to mention Penguin Torpedo can't attack monsters? It only has one target..."

The torpedo's thrusters reactivated, and it adjusted its course... directly into Demetrius. The thrusters fired, and it shot through the ocean.

"Oh, damn," Demetrius managed to say right before the Penguin Torpedo hit. It let off an explosion strong enough to floor him, even as his Life Points went down to 7,050.

Pieces of scrap metal floated past Mako as the fisherman continued, "Of course, being a torpedo, it explodes on contact. Even if I didn't attack with it, it still dies at the end of the Battle Phase..." He then played another card from his hand. "But that's why I have Return of the Doomed. At the cost of one card from my hand, I can bring back a monster that died this turn. And I'll bring back the Penguin Torpedo."

He slid his Great White into the Graveyard, and a beam of light pierced the conveyor. Parts of the destroyed Penguin Torpedo gathered in this light, reforging into a single warhead. With that, they vanished, and the card reappeared in Mako's hand. He then waved for Demetrius to move.

Struggling back to his feet, the older man stroked his goatee before drawing. He then scowled, thinking, _Where are all the cards that work?_ "I set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn," he concluded.

After his next draw, Mako shook his head. "Please. Ever since I purchased a radar scanner for my boat, underwater obstacles have ceased troubling me. For example, your facedown monster..." He slid a card into his Duel Disk. "...means nothing thanks to my Nobleman of Crossout."

Carefully tucking his cards into one knuckle, Demetrius clenched his fist, his scowl deepening.

A fairly effeminate knight sank through the ocean overhead, drawing his sword as he landed in front of the facedown monster. Raising the blade, he stabbed downwards, impaling Demetrius's Penguin Soldier. The waterfowl and the knight vanished together, and two cards jutted out of Demetrius's deck. Muttering to himself, he picked up all three cards and slid them into his pocket.

"With that out of the way," Mako continued, "time for Fire Two! I summon my Penguin Torpedo again!"

Once more, the strange bird/missile combination floated in front of its player. (750/650 - 950/650)

"Open fire!" the fisherman shouted, and the torpedo's thrusters burned to life, hurling it at Demetrius...

The sphinx's eyes flashed with purple light, and Demetrius held up his hand, shuffling the cards with his free hand. "Choose one."

_Now that I've removed his Penguin Soldier, _Mako thought, _I don't know any of them... and I don't even have enough to facilitate a good guess._ "I'll say..." He paused. "The middle one is a Trap Card."

"Oh, so close, good chap!" Demetrius smiled and turned the middle card around, revealing a Hane-Hane. "Now as per the Ordeal of a Traveler, the Penguin Torpedo returns to your hand."

The ocean floor shook as a gaggle of hideous spirits burst from the sphnix's eyes, flying towards the Torpedo. They scooped it up, flying towards Mako, and shoved the card back into his hand before dissipating.

A frown crossed the Darkness Infected's face as he thought, _I still have my Tornado Wall, but it's a fragile defense - nobody in this game runs a deck with zero anti-Magic or anti-Trap cards... _He looked to his hand and cursed. "I end my turn."

Demetrius replied, "Right." He drew a card and then laughed, unable to stop himself.

"What do you find so amusing?" Mako asked.

Catching himself, Demetrius said, "It's the situation, Mako-boy..." He then bit his lip and thought, _-san, not -chan._ "I mean, Mako. I start with a card facedown..." The card appeared. "And then play a Magic Card called Giant Trunade. Familiar with it?"

The fisherman's eyes widened, and he put his forehead to his palm, sighing. "Oh, not again..."

A massive gust of wind hit the ocean, splitting it down to the conveyor the duelists stood on. It began to spin, forming a lighter version of Mako's Tornado Wall, and soon gathered all of the water, the sphinx, and all the other Magic and Trap cards into its wake. Cards rained from the sky as the wind died, landing in either player's hands...

...and then a piece of parchment floated down, and Demetrius caught it out of the sky.

Even as he uttered Cantonese profanities, Mako noticed the parchment, asking, "What is that? Something to do with your facedown card, I take it?"

"Indeed," the older man explained. "It's called Treasure Map, and when it's bounced to my hand by another card, I draw twice..." He did so, and then tore the parchment in two before sliding a card into his Graveyard. "But once you find the treasure, the map's useless, so I then discard Treasure Map."

Around them, the hologram of Umi had fully faded, and they once again stood in the center of a large Plexiglass tunnel, the fish separated from them. The only thing left on either field was Mataza the Zapper, whose armor was dripping. He sneered, took off his headband, and wrung it out.

"Relax, my ronin friend," Demetrius said. "It's time to get revenge for how badly your armor will be rusting later. Direct attack with Ronin's Sting!"

Flashing his master a grin, Mataza drew his sword and leapt forward, slashing Mako hard across the chest. The fisherman winced as his Life Points sank to 6,700.

"And again!" came the order, and Mataza flipped his sword in his hand, his next strike crossing the first to form an X. Clutching his chest, Mako exhaled slowly, now at 5,400 Life Points.

Without ceremony, Demetrius picked three cards out of his hand, tossing one onto a Monster slot and slipping two into his Duel Disk. "A monster in Defense Mode and two cards facedown will fill out my turn." Mataza smiled, resheathing his blade.

Adding another card to his hand, Mako seethed, a burning X drawn across his chest by the sword. "I play Umi once again," he began.

The tunnel's walls cracked again, and with a loud snap, Underwater Adventure shattered around them, returning the duelists to the bottom of the sea.

"I set two cards facedown," he continued, "and then play Card Destruction. Now we both discard our hands and draw the same number of cards we had before..."

Both men folded their cards, slid them into their Graveyards, and drew their new hands.

_I still haven't drawn it, _the fisherman thought with a spark of anger. "Now," he went on, "I summon my Fiend Kraken in Attack Mode!"

Two pale white tentacles came up from below the conveyor, wrapping around it. They pulled, and slowly the giant white octopus rose into view, blank eyes drilling into Demetrius's own. He flinched away as it settled into place, tendrils waving. (1,200/1,400) A whirlpool spun beneath it as the kraken moved about. (1,200/1,400 - 1,400/1,400)

"Fiend Kraken," Mak ordered, "give the Zapper a taste of what you gave the Nautilus!"

Rising off the conveyor, the Fiend Kraken whipped forward, tentacles flailing. It hovered over Mataza, beginning to wrap around him.

"I activate Ordeal of a Traveler!" Demetrius called out. Once again, the sphinx rose up from the black depths, its eyes lined with purple flame. He then held out his cards. "Make your pick."

Gesturing to the left card, Mako said, "I say that's a Monster."

Taken aback, Demetrius growled and turned the card around - Guardian Sphinx.

Without anything to stop it, the Fiend Kraken wrapped its tentacles around Mataza the Zapper and pulled it in, towards an unseen maw. They didn't need to see what happened next - the sounds were ugly enough.

Demetrius felt his stomach turning over as his Life Points lowered to 6,950. He then looked at the back of his hand, and - to his dismay but not his surprise - the black mark of the Darkness Infection appeared on it.

"And that's just for starters," Mako said as he saw that action. "Either way, take your turn."

_Remain calm, Demetrius,_ the older man thought as he drew. _Undefeated or not, you've still had worse scrapes than this._ He tossed a card onto his Duel Disk with a shout of, "Pot of Greed!" Drawing twice more, he then said, "I Flip Summon my Hane-Hane!"

Over the course of his career as a duelist, Demetrius Lark had seen the Hane-Hane some 1,923 times. But he still could not work out why on Earth anyone would make a card that was, in essence, a nose with hands and wings. (450/500)

After a moment, said giant nose wrinkled, and it let out a loud "ACHOO!" The resulting gust of wind blew the Fiend Kraken straight off Mako's field, blowing it through the water and into his hand.

"Geshundeit, Mr. Chupon," the older man said. "Next, I sacrifice the Hane-Hane for Guardian Sphinx in Attack Mode!"

For a moment, the winged nose seemed confused... and then it vanished. In its place came a crack in the ground, which slowly expanded, apparently ripping the conveyor between them in half (though this was just part of the hologram). Slowly, another look-alike of the Great Sphinx at Giza rose into view, stone fragments rolling off of its body as it did. With a mighty rumble, it finished ascending, towering over both duelists. (1,700/2,400)

A quiet moment passed as Demetrius took in the scene. He had a powerful monster in front of him, even if it was a tremendous stone carving, and Mako had nothing on the field but two facedown cards, neither of which scared him. He could feel his adreneline building up. "Guardian Sphinx," he finally ordered, "direct attack! Monolith Crash!"

"You fool! You know what I have on the field!" Mako shouted back. "Activate Tornado Wall!"

At that, Demetrius actually laughed. "Did you think I forgot that? Activate Royal Surrender!"

Mako's Tornado Wall began to lift, but then Demetrius's own trap snapped into place. A piercing trumpet blast sounded throughout the ocean, and the waters rippled towards the Tornado Wall, shattering it to pieces before it ever went off.

"Royal Surrender," Demetrius explained, "is a Counter Trap that cancels out the effects of Continuous Trap Cards. So Tornado Wall meant nothing to me! Now, Guardian Sphinx, continue the attack!"

Stone ground against stone as the mighty construct lifted one paw. It held it over Mako, letting him take in its shadow falling over him, and then slammed it down. When the paw pulled back, the fisherman was facedown and dazed, his Life Points at 3,700. He raised his head, muttered, "Racoon dog, racoon dog, ha-ah..." and dropped it with a groan.

Raching down, Demetrius turned the Guardian Sphinx over, and it vanished in a purple cloud, replaced by a facedown monster. "Guardian Sphinx's effect lets me switch it facedown, and now that I've done so..." He slid one card into his Duel Disk. "That will be all."

As Mako struggled to his feet, Demetrius frowned, thinking, _I usually keep Royal Surrender in my deck to counter another card... one that I've feared ever since I designed this strategy. It is one of my few defenses against that card, but if Mako continues to duel as he has so far, I need not fear it..._

Once the world stopped mutating in front of his eyes, Mako blinked a few times and drew another card. He then paused, stared, and thought, _This is it. Once I play this card, the duel is in my hands._ "I set this card facedown..." He slid his draw into the Duel Disk. "And one monster in Defense Mode. Make your move, mooncalf!"

"You're a duelist, not a pirate," Demetrius replied. He drew his next card, and then paused, studying Mako carefully. Something seemed wrong. "Now," he continued, "I flip the Guardian Sphinx faceup, bouncing all your monsters back to your hand..."

Again the tunnel under them split open, and the age-old monument rose from beneath the surface...

Holding up his Duel Disk, Mako pressed one button, and a Trap Card lifted on his field. Its picture showed up: a Penguin Soldier, its feet trapped in a bog. "Recognize this?" Mako called out in triumph. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card known as Tarfoot!"

For a long, agonized moment, the older said nothing. And then, at the top of his lungs, he yelled, "Oh, dash it all!" It echoed along the tunnel of Underwater Adventure, repeating his lament again and again.

The ocean seemed to solidify around the duelists, turning from flowing water into a thick blue gel. The Guardian Sphinx stopped, only half-risen, its paws still under the surface. Meanwhile, the gel ate away at the Ordeal of a Traveler's sphinx, reducing it from its past glory to a copy of its eroded, cracked modern counterpart. Although he could still move freely, Demetrius could feel the gel pressing down on him.

The worst part was that the ocean still flowed freely around Mako, who noted, "You already know this, but all effects that bounce monsters back to their owner's hands are utterly worthles when Tarfoot is active. So now your Ordeal of a Traveler is negated, and your Guardian Sphinx can flip all it likes for all I care. Try your fancy strategies now, see what good they do you!"

Mind still reeling, Demetrius returned Mako's taunt with a blank look. He then looked over his cards before muttering, "Right... Guardian Sphinx, attack his facedown monster..."

Its paws were still trapped under the conveyor, so the massive monument did not bother trying to lift one. Instead, it turned slightly to face the targeted monster, and purple fire leaped to life on its eyes. It then shot the fire at Mako's monster, covering the Fiend Kraken in purple flames. The water surrounding them had no effect on the fire, and it burned away without a second thought.

"I chain to its destruction with Revenge Sacrifice!" Mako declared, the card with a picture of an entangled woman lifting up. "When one of my monsters is destroyed, I can sacrifice one of yours to summon a monster from my hand. So I'll Tribute your Guardian Sphinx for my Kairyu-Shin!"

The ocean turned red around them, and unearthly tendrils wrapped around the Guardian Sphinx. They forced themselves into cracks throughout its body, teasing them wider, and then suddenly smashed through it, reducing the entire creature to rubble. The broken stone formed into a long line, and with a flash became a long, blue-skinned serpent, with no eyes and sharp teeth. It wrapped around Mako, snarling at Demetrius. (1,800/1,000 - 2,000/1,200)

Barely able to blink, Demetrius merely took a card from his hand. "One monster in Defense Mode... end turn." The card appeared before him.

As Mako drew, he smirked, noting, "Without your bounce cards, you don't have much of a deck, do you? Ah, well... seems your reputation is about to take a hit..."

**0000000**

A large, metal arm, eaten away by rust, fell to the ground in front of Sol Kilkarn. He staggered back, the Dark Snake Syndrome rendering his movements jerky, and took a few deep breaths. The arm shattered, leaving him with nothing but 600 Life Points.

"Pathetic," Reston muttered as he took a card from his hand, his own Life Point total at 5,500. "Finish with Poison of the Old Man. May choose to either gain 1,200 Life Points or deal 800 damage. Choose latter."

A table rose up beside the Pillar of Death, containing two glass bottles - one was tall and held green liquid, the other short and holding purple liquid. He took the purple, hefted it twice in his hand, and then hurled it at Sol. It shattered against him, unleashing a thick purple cloud, and he broke down in a frenzy of choking coughs, blood flecking his hand as his Life Points sank to zero.

The holograms faded as Reston stalked up to Sol, arms crossed before him. He shook his head. "Sought redemption. Didn't find it. Damnation final. No hope for tainted soul. Learned that long ago."

"For you..." Sol gasped, leaning forward. "You need a serious heart to atone... I have it. You never will... It's not... hopeless for me..."

"Foolish. True or not, sins eternal. Still... dead soon, so argument pointless." He took the young man's face in one hand. "Down."

And the marks of the Darkness Infection once again spread over Sol's body as he cried out, crossing his hands and neck. He shook twice, and then went limp in Reston's hand, falling onto his side.

Shutting off the oxygen tank, Reston removed the mask and sighed. "Feel empty..." He moved away from the defeated duelist, looking over the food court's railings into Camp Snoopy. "Minor opponent. Serious battles still waiting."

His eyes sought out Chad, who was wandering around far below him.

**0000000**

Drawing another card, Mako adjusted his hand. "I now play Premature Burial," he declared, "letting me play 800 Life Points to bring back a monster from my Graveyard. And the one I choose is Great White!"

His Life Points dropped to 2,900, and a red circle appeared on his field. Blood suddenly flowed out from the X cut on his chest, diluting over the circle... and causing the shark to burst out, snapping at the waters around it. (1,600/800 - 1,800/1,000)

If he had the capacity to feel more than despair, Demetrius would have retched.

"That done, Kairyu-Shin, attack his facedown monster!" Mako then ordered.

The vicious sea worm roared, hurling itself at Demetrius's concealed monster. Its cruel jaws clamped around the bird-headed soldier, a Hayabusa Knight, and ripped it clean in half, throwing bits of metal everywhere as the armor shattered.

With a wave of one arm, Mako announced, "Feeding frenzy time, Great White! Eat up!"

The water blurred as the powerful shark launched through the ocean, mouth opened wide. It bit into Demetrius's arm, thrashing about. This brought him back to his senses, and he grabbed his cane from his side, yelling as he struck the shark's gills with it. Finally, the predatory fish let go, leaving Demetrius with 5,150 Life Points and a rip in his sleeve.

"Your turn, Mr. Lark," Mako said, tapping his foot.

Drawing, Demetrius shut his eyes. _Assessment time: my theme is powerless as long as he has Tarfoot out, I was fooled into wasting my major weapon against said Tarfoot on his Tornado Wall, I am not holding anything that can counter it, and I have no monsters or anti-attack tricks on my field. What a negative assessment. _"I draw."

The foil on his draw glittered under the dim light from outside the hologram, and Demetrius frowned. "I have no choice. I play my Card of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw our hands up to six cards." He shut his eyes, not wanting to see Mako benefit as he did as he drew his cards. On opening them again, however, he smiled. "And now I play the Dark Door!"

A line drew itself out of light on the water between the two duelists, expanding to form a shimmering wall of energy. Soon a green spot appeared on this wall, unfolding to slowly expand into a long rectangle. This rectangle glowed and disappeared, leaving a shining hole in the wall.

"Only one monster per turn can pass through that door," Demetrius noted. "Now I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." A facedown monster appeared in the midst of the gel on Demetrius's side.

With a scoff, Mako drew. "The ocean is a thousand times larger than this hologram can show, Lark. You can never block out all of it!" He tucked the card into his hand, taking out a different one. "Now watch as I scour the seafloor with my Magic Card, Big Wave Small Wave!"

The older man's eyes grew large enough that his brow tipped his top hat. He reached up to push it back into place.

Yet again the conveyor began to shake, but Mako held his footing as Demetrius stumbled. The water rolled to one side, lifting itself up and over the platform. The fish within it swam about in panic, even as it lifted up, and the Kairyu-Shin and Great White flopped about helplessly...

And then the water came down in one giant rush, knocking both Demetrius and Mako to the floor and crushing everything it hit. For a moment, nothing could be seen or heard but the raging waters, and then it leveled out. Both men staggered to their feet, noticing that both of Mako's monsters were gone, although all other cards on the field were unaffected.

"The ocean is destructive," Mako mused. "The first effect of Big Wave Small Wave reflects this, destroying all my Water-type monsters. The second effect, however, reflects the bounty of the sea, letting me Special Summon one Water-type monster for each one I lost. And I choose..." His eyes shined. "Mermaid Knight and the Legendary Fisherman!"

A large current pushed past the duelists, exposing two veins of bubbling water. The bubbles slowly grew, expanding into two monsters. One was a mermaid, as Mako had said, but she looked nothing like Ariel - she was rather obese, had stringy red hair, and wore plate armor over her human half; she also held a sword and shield. (1,500/1,000 - 1,700/1,200) The other...

The other was a monster almost as famous as Joey Wheeler. It was a tall, dark-skinned man with wild blue hair, wearing a green loincloth and holding a sharp spear. He stood on the back of a shark, and his eyes burned with excitement. Even before Mako had the Darkness Infection, this monster looked like him; now the marks of the Infection matched the black tattoos on the Legendary Fisherman's body. (1,850/1,600)

Blinking, Demetrius asked, "Wait... I thought you gave that to Joey Wheeler during Battle City. Where did you get that one?"

"It's an odd tale, one I feel uncomfortable sharing with someone who doesn't live on the water... but I'll tell you anyway." Mako paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then continued. "When I went out to sea one rainy morning, about six months ago, my ship was caught in a massive gale. In order to fight it off, as per an old sailor's suspicion, I began to whistle a song my father had taught me long before - whistling, they say, drives back storms.

"You can imagine how shocking it was to hear someone whistling back in the middle of an empty sea! A few moments later, the gale died down, and a whirlpool came into being just in front of my ship. It lasted but a second, and then a woman stepped out of it."

"A woman?" Demetrius raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you hadn't dipped into the rum?"

"I don't drink rum, Lark - you can't man a fishing boat by yourself if your senses are numbed by alcohol. And yes, it was a woman - impossible to tell her age, but she had shining blonde hair, sickly white skin, and wore a long blue dress. She asked why I was out that morning, and I told her the truth - that I fish for a living.

"'A fisherman?' she said, and then she started to laugh. 'Few have the bravery to sail out into the heart of a storm. I miss the days when men were bold enough to travel my seas no matter what the conditions.'

"It begged the question, and so I asked it. '_Your_ seas? Nobody owns the water.'

"'I may not own them, but I have a better claim to them than you humans.' She gave me a smile and then bowed, saying, 'I am the Beloved of Water, after all. The waters do as I bid, and the seas dance to my tune. But enough of that... do you duel?'

"And when I said yes, she called up a waterspout. It landed on her arm, turning into a Duel Disk made out of what looked like seashells, whereupon she said, 'Get your Duel Disk and let's begin.'"

On hearing the term "Beloved of Water", Demetrius's mind immediately settled on a picture of Lucifer Allumette. _I suppose if fire has a Beloved, so would water, _he thought. _She must be with the Shadows, then._ "Who won?" he asked aloud.

"_I_ did!" Mako replied, thumping his chest. "Did you think I would lose to some girl who just popped up out of the seas? She played a very powerful Water deck, as you might imagine, but I triumphed in the end.

"As she knelt afterwards, breathing hard, she told me, 'You possess remarkable skill. It pleases me that one who harvests water's bounty has more than just brute strength to back them up...' She then laughed, stepping to the very edge of the deck, and said, 'I cannot help but be interested in you. When you look to the waves, think of the Beloved of Water, and know that I'm watching...'

"And then she jumped into the oceans, and disappeared into the waters with a splash. When I went to look for her, however, I nearly slipped on a card. It was another Legendary Fisherman, with a note under it saying, 'He and you are as one'. Ever since then I've had this copy of the card in my deck."

"Impressive story," Demetrius interrupted, stifling a yawn, "but can you finish your turn sometime in the next week?" He gestured to Mako's monsters, who had dozed off as he spoke.

Mako let out a shout at his monsters, knocking them into wakefulness, before playing another card. "Sorry I got long-winded... now I play the Magic Card Salvage, letting me add two weak Water Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand!"

Two bubbles floated up from the depths of the ocean, carrying the Giant Jellyfish and Fiend Kraken. They popped, and the cards floated down into Mako's hand.

"But they won't stick around," he carried on, "because they're just the bait for my ultimate weapon. I play my last card for the turn, Fortress Whale Oath!"

Underneath the conveyor, a large shadow began to loom. The fish scattered around them, leaving Demetrius feeling a deep sense of worry. That worry turned to dread as the shadow began to come closer.

"To summon the Fortress Whale itself," Mako noted, "I need to give seven star's worth of Monsters to the Graveyard. So goodbye, Giant Jellyfish and Fiend Kraken! You are the necessary sacrifices to bring out my mighty Fortress Whale!"

Both monsters appeared on Mako's field, but then they fell from the conveyor. The shadow moved closer, and both disappeared with a chomp. There was then a low roar, and the shadow rose over Mako's field, coming into the light...

Blue whales, though gigantic, are considered one of the less threatening creatures in the animal kingdom. Whoever had designed the card known as the Fortress Whale had taken that into account, because they had made a few deliberate errors in the design. For one, blue whales did not have large horns on their fronts; that belonged to narwhals. Secondly, and more importantly, whales do not usually have massive cannons on their backs. The Fortress Whale had both. (2,350/2,150 - 2,550/2,350)

"Ulp," Demetrius Lark said. He then paused and frowned, adding, "Didn't Joey Wheeler take this card from you, as well? I'm guessing there's a long story behind this one, too."

With a shrug, Mako said, "Joey gave it back after the finals. He said it wasn't fair to take both my trumps from me. Now..." He crossed his arms. "I could attack with both the Legendary Fisherman and another monster, as the Legendary Fisherman's effect makes him immune to all Magic Cards while in Umi... including The Dark Door. But I know you have a 'spin' monster in your deck, and Tarfoot does nothing to those. I would prefer not being forced to draw a Tribute Monster on my next turn, so I'll end my turn here!"

_He knows me too well,_ Demetrius thought with a sneer as he drew his next card. He then played it, announcing, "I play Graceful Charity!"

Instead of an angel, however, a strange young woman floated up on the card's announcement. She had green skin, and her hair was like long, flowing seaweed; a thin blue gown covered her body. Her hand passed over Demetrius's deck, and he drew his three cards.

Even as he handed his discards (Begone, Knave! and a Hade-Hane) to the woman, Demetrius asked, "What is this?"

"Don't you know your myths?" the fisherman said, holding his forehead. "That's a Nereid, a Greek spirit of the ocean waves. I suppose angels don't like operating underwater..."

The Nereid smiled at Mako, and then descended into the depths again.

_Is it just the nature of this duel, or have they gotten more elaborate with the holograms lately?_ the older man pondered. He then took two cards from his hand, saying, "I set a card facedown and a monster in Defense Mode. Take your move, Mako-boy - I mean Mako." _Dratted honorifics_, he thought. _That's the one part of Japanese I've never gotten straight._

With a glare, Mako drew his card, saying, "I'm not sure that's an accident." He then let out a hearty laugh, slapping down his card. "Now I destroy your Dark Door with my Mystical Space Typhoon!"

"Chain!" Demetrius yelled back, his voice bouncing around the concealed tunnel. "I activate Emergency Provisions, sacrificing my Dark Door, my Ordeal of a Traveler, and the facedown Trap Hole on my field to gain 3,000 Life Points! Now what will your Typhoon destroy?"

Far beneath both duelists, the seafloor cracked, a thermal vent shooting to the surface. Around this burst of warm water, a waterspout came to life, hurtling its way towards the shining gateway on Demetrius's field. However, a bizarre mouth leapt from his card, biting the doorway in half, reducing the sphinx to pebbles, and devouring his facedown card whole. The waterspout dissipated without ever reaching Demetrius, and he merely smiled as his Life Points rose to 8,150. The marks of the Darkness Infection vanished from his hands.

But then the fisherman smiled back, replying, "It may have fizzled, but what will that do for your chances? I now play Pot of Avarice..."

The ridiculous-looking pot descended in front of Mako, and his Star Boy, Kairyu-Shin, Fiend Kraken, Penguin Torpedo, and Great White all fell into it. It shattered, and he drew two cards.

He continued, "And now you will regret not having that Trap Hole. I summon the 7-Colored Fish in Attack Mode!"

A school of parrotfish scattered as a long, lithe predator passed through them. It swam over and around Mako, its rainbow-colored scales shining in the dim light of the ocean, until finally settling in front of its owner. Light glinted off the points of its tusks. (1,800/800 - 2,000/1,000)

Despite himself, Demetrius began to shiver. His muscles tensed in preparation.

"7-Colored Fish, attack the facedown monster on the left!" Mako ordered.

With a whip of its tail, the fish hurled itself at the facedown monster, its tusks goring into the monster. A muscular man rose from the card's hologram, grabbing the fish's tusks, and they fought for a moment. (1,300/1,800) Finally, even as he was lethally gored, the man hurled the fish away from him, and it landed atop Mako's deck.

_And so dies a Legendary Jujitsu Master, _Demetrius thought.

The fisherman nodded his head, noting, "Legendary Jujitsu Master, I know. Its effect sends its opponents in battle back atop my deck, even though I destroyed him." He then looked to the Mermaid Knight. "Aqua Edge on the other facedown monster of Mr. Lark's, Mermaid Knight."

Raising her sword, the obese warrior mermaid swam forward, raising her weapon and bringing it down hard on Demetrius's last monster. It was revealed as a young woman in purple robes, carrying a crescent-headed staff. She yelped before falling apart, divided in two. (200/300)

"Magician of Faith's effect, as I believe you know," Demetrius said, "lets me add any one Magic Card from my Graveyard to my hand on being flipped." He took his Pot of Greed and added it to his hand.

"And Mermaid Knight's effect gives her two attacks when Umi is on the field," Mako rebutted. "You like multiple-attack monsters, right?"

"Not when I'm being attacked."

"Pity. Get him!"

The Mermaid Knight drew her sword back and slashed Demetrius hard across the chest, throwing him to the ground. He let out a shout and fell to the conveyor belt's surface, cursing. His Life Points sank to 6,450, and the marks of the Darkness Infection returned to his hands.

A grin crossed Mako's face as he announced, "Legendary Fisherman's turn has come. Attack him directly with King Fisher's Spear!"

Lifting his spear, the Legendary Fisherman kicked his shark mount in the flanks, swimming into the waters over Demetrius's head. The older man could only watch as the foremost sea warrior took another position, and then threw his spear down at him. The waters actually _parted_ before the weapon, and thus its velocity was not blunted in the slighest as it struck its target in the chest, slamming him back to the ground and taking his Life Points to 4,600.

The marks of the Darkness Infection spread to Demetrius's neck as he staggered back upright, only to have his eyes fall on Mako's final monster - his Fortress Whale. His mouth went dry.

Mako reached out and patted his Fortress Whale on the fin, laughing to himself. "Ever wondered what it's like to be Joey Wheeler?" he asked.

Blinking, Demetrius replied, "No. Actually, I have not."

"Too bad. You're going to get that experience no matter your wishes. Fortress Whale, fire cannons! Whale Bombard!"

The guns clicked into position on the Fortress Whale's back, and all Demetrius could do was stare. He then heard a series of crashing noises as the ammo loaded into the weapons, and all he could say - indeed, all he could think - was, "Oh, _bugger_."

Every one of the guns sounded off in turn, the blast echoing from Underwater Adventures out into the mall itself, almost shaking the massive building. A series of explosions followed, and smoke filled the tunnel to either end, briefly disrupting the Umi hologram itself as Demetrius's Life Points fell to 2,050.

It took the smoke quite some time to clear, and until then Mako merely looked down the tunnel at where his opponent had stood. In due time, he could see Demetrius Lark, flat on his back and top hat bashed in, cane several yards away. The smoke vanished, and the hologram of the ocean reasserted itself.

"Well, Lark? How did you like a taste of Sea Stealth III?" Mako asked his opponent. He then burst into laughter, pointing to his Tarfoot trap. "With that on the field, you have no deck theme! Nothing you play will get you out of this one, will it, Demetrius? Oh, you American duelists are so _pathetic!_ Maybe I should move to this country - I might just be able to make it big!"

Sitting up, Demetrius shut his eyes, groaning in pain. _He may be right, _he thought. _What sort of duelist can I call myself if I can get trapped in a situation like this? My undefeated streak is legendary, but don't all legends have to end?_

And then he could see something, and he had no idea how...

**0000000**

"And that is that, folks! Iago Lark has defeated his final opponent, and the Hundred-Man Duel Gauntlet comes to a close! For the first time in Duel Monsters history, one man has defeated one hundred opponents in a row with a single deck!"

Demetrius briefly panicked on realizing he could see through his hands, but this faded when he looked up in response to the announcement. He was standing among a capacity crowd, cheering their lungs out; below their seats was a stage, apparently part of a coliseum.

Standing on that stage was a strangely familiar young man with sharp features, a cocky grin, and spiky green hair. He had three earrings in his left ear, wore a sleeveless black shirt with yellow vest and pants, and had a very familiar Duel Disk on his arm - it looked just like Demetrius's own. Taking his deck out of his Duel Disk, the young man shuffled it, and then held it up to the crowd. "Anyone else want to challenge the Lark family heirloom?" he called out.

And then Demetrius remembered what the announcer had called the young man. He gasped - the man was his younger son Iago, grown up.

The scene shifted, and Iago was now standing on the floor of Madison Square Garden, announcing, "Chain Thrasher, finish all this with Chain Rend!"

The Chain Thrasher, thus ordered, charged forward, spinning his weapon in his hand. He stopped just short of Iago's opponent and whipped the chain out, slashing the man across the face. He whimpered and fell over, his Life Points dropping to zero.

The commentator shouted, "And it's over! Like his father before him, Iago Lark has just won the United States Duel Monsters Championship!"

"You're all too kind, my people, you just are!" Iago shouted up as the audience roared their approval.

Again the scene jumped, and a young man who looked a great deal like Mercutio, Demetrius's older son, was standing in the center of a pit of fire, adjusted a strange Duel Disk; Demetrius guessed it was a newer model. His opponent, a strange being in a three-headed hooded robe, was shivering behind an Inferno Hammer, which itself was cowering in Defense Mode.

Snorting, this young man muttered, "Look. Nobody ever beat Grandfather Demetrius, Uncle Iago had a 430/3/1 record - win/loss/draw - and no creep in a two-buck Halloween costume calling themself a Chaosspawn is going to take down Feste Lark, do you understand?"

The three-headed being began to babble in a language Demetrius had never heard before and never wanted to hear again. Its fear was obvious in every syllable.

"Now get the hell off this plane of existence!" Feste reached down and turned over a facedown monster. "Hane-Hane, get that Inferno Hammer whatsit out of my sight!"

The winged nose appeared and sneezed, blowing the Inferno Hammer into the air and causing it to disappear.

"And now, just to prove that you can never stop a Lark, even if you can summon the fires of Hell, I summon my Hayabusa Knight in Attack Mode!" Feste yelled as he tossed down the card.

The bird-headed monster appeared, drawing its twin swords. It clashed them together and chirped.

Taking a moment to wipe off his hands on his shirt, Demetrius's grandson then said, slowly and with careful pronounciation, "I have a message for 'Chaos' on behalf of Grandfather Demetrius, Uncle Iago, and the other inhabitants of the Earth." His voice spiked in volume as he yelled, "PISS OFF! Direct attack!"

The air blurred, the Hayabusa Knight brought down both of its swords, and the Chaosspawn's body split between its hoods as it blew into a thousand fragments.

One last time the scene jumped, and now Demetrius stood next to an oak table. A young, lanky man with light blonde hair sat at the closer end, and he fidgeted in anticipation. Moments later, the door opened, and an old man approached the table, holding an inlaid gold case. To Demetrius's surprise, he could recognize the man - it was Feste Lark, grown old.

"Malvolio," Feste said as he sat at the table, setting the box in front of him. "Tomorrow you leave for Duel Academy, correct?"

"Yes, grandfather," Malvolio replied, his eyes falling on the box. His fidgeting increased. "Is that..."

The older Lark nodded, opening the box. Inside it sat a stack of Duel Monsters cards. They were old, judging by the wear on their edges, and they were in careful-fitting plastic sheaths, but as Feste took them out of the box, Demetrius could feel his connection to them. It was his deck.

With a sigh, Feste Lark said, "If Bassiano... your father... hadn't died in that traffic accident he would be doing this, as I would have for him. But as he's gone..." He then held the deck in one hand, holding it out. "Malvolio, I now bequeth the Lark family's ancestral deck to you. Are you willing to take on the responsibilty?"

Holding out his own hand, Malvolio slowly nodded, saying, "I am, grandfather."

"What are the family's traditions?" the older man now asked.

As Malvolio recited them, so did Demetrius, standing behind him. "'Never step back from a challenge. Always keep your promises and repay your debts. But most of all, whatever you do with your life, do it with dignity.'"

"Correct. Now carry that with you into the school, and make the Lark family proud."

Feste set the deck into his grandson's hand. One hundred years of history passed between them in that gesture, and Demetrius could feel every bit of it.

For a moment, he was surrounded by men and women he had never met, and would never meet, but whom were all connected to him. Finally, he stood before his great-great-grandson, Malvolio Lark. The resemblence was uncanny.

"So this is what I'm fighting for?" Demetrius asked.

The future Lark nodded. "Pretty much."

And they shook hands.

**0000000**

With that, Demetrius's senses returned to the real world, and he pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his coat. His hearing came back to him at that point, and he could hear Mako triumphantly shouting, "I can't believe this... I'm about to do it! I'm about to be the first man to defeat Demetrius Lark!"

The world, as far as Demetrius could tell, turned red.

"**_LIKE BLOODY HELL YOU WILL!_**" Demetrius yelled, hand going to his deck. In his anger, he switched back to speaking English. "I am Demetrius Lark, first among equals. I am building a legacy to last as long as Duel Monsters exists, and you will _NOT_ be a part of it!" He drew his next card and tossed it onto the Duel Disk, eyes wild. "Pot of Greed!"

Snapping two more cards from his deck, he tucked them into his hand, laughing as he saw what they were. "And now, I summon forth the Reflect Bounder in Attack Mode!"

A stray current shifted the gel that Tarfoot had created around Demetrius, exposing a mirror on the conveyor in front of him. The light struck it, bouncing off into the water off the edge of the tunnel. It hit a particularly shiny rock and bounced back, before being reflected off a spyglass, the last vestige of a wrecked ship.

All the reflected light landed on Demetrius's field, and from it emerged an odd figure - it looked human, but had mirrors embedded into its body. It adjusted the red robe it wore and held its hands before it. (1,700/1,000) The water leaked into its joints, and there was a creak as it rusted, its movements slowing. (1,700/1,000 - 1,500/800)

The fisherman stared at that monster for a moment before saying, "Wait... that's not a bounce monster."

"There are more than one ways to bounce your opponent to oblivon, Tsunami!" Demetrius declared, returning to Japanese. "Besides, it won't even need to bounce any of your cards - I play the Equip Magic Card Axe of Despair on my Reflect Bounder, granting it 1,000 more Attack Points!"

Each of the Reflect Bounder's mirrors reflected a hideous green axe, and then said axe appeared before it, the blade attached to a severed head. Both spindly hands wrapped around the handle, and it held the weapon before itself. (1,500/800 - 2,500/800)

Even as Mako was about to laugh, Demetrius tossed one more card onto his field, declaring, "And just to add to the fun, I use my Spiritualism Magic Card to return Umi to your hand. And you care to know why Spiritualism is so useful? Because nothing stops it!"

Mako's laugh cut off in his throat.

A gaggle of ghosts erupted from the card as it appeared on the field. They spread out throughout the ocean, slowly spiraling in towards the center. Unearthly laughter spread throughout the water, and white wind surrounded them as, in a giant swirl of water, the ocean vanished, and they returned to the tunnel of Underwater World.

The Reflect Bounder's joints snapped out as the rust rained off of them. (2,500/800 - 2,700/1,000)

Standing as straight as he could, Demetrius made a dramatic point towards Mako, shouting, "Reflect Bounder, erase the Fortress Whale from the seas!"

With a whirr and a click, the Reflect Bounder began to spin around on its waist. It slowly gained momentum, the axe dragging the air before it. And then it released the axe, which hurtled outward and cleaved the Fortress Whale along the middle. Shards of bone rained from its horn, and then it slowly fell into two halves. Before anything could be seen, however, it shattered.

The fisherman's jaw dropped as his Life Points did, sending him to 2,750 Life Points.

"One card facedown," Demetrius concluded as the Axe of Despair faded back into his monster's hands, "and my turn ends. Well, Mako-boy?" This time it was deliberate.

As his body shook, Mako drew his next card, the marks of the Darkness Infection throbbing. _I could attack, he thought._ _Any attack will kill his Reflect Bounder, and then I could finish him off with any of my monsters. _

_But..._ Mako paused, frowning. _But if I did, I would be reduced to 250 Life Points. This would mean nothing if I won, of course, but he has that facedown card. If it was Sakuretsu Armor, I could win without a problem. But a Negate Attack or a Mirror Force would cost me the duel... and even worse, he could wait until after I had attacked Reflect Bounder in order to activate it! And then any attack would end this duel! But... but what if it's a bluff? _

Throwing back his head, Mako screamed in his mind, _I can't decide!_

"Make a bloody move already!" Demetrius yelled.

Glaring at his opponent, the younger man said, "Fine! I begin by replaying Umi!"

The waters rose around them one last time, and the Reflect Bounder weakened as the monsters on Mako's side regained their power bonuses.

"Next," Mako continued, sliding his draw into the Duel Disk, "I play my own Graceful Charity." As she had for Demetrius, a Nereid floated up to Mako, and he drew his three cards before handing her the 7-Colored Fish and another Umi. As she left, he said, "Then I play Monster Reborn, bringing back my 7-Colored Fish in Defense Mode!"

The rainbow-scaled piscine appeared on Mako's field with a flash of light, curled around itself. (1,800/800 - 2,000/1,000)

Before he made his next move, Mako frowned again, thinking, _This card was a crutch for so long... but it still hurts to do this. _"And then I sacrifice my Legendary Fisherman for a Monster in Defense Mode. Make your move, Lark."

The Legendary Fisherman let out a cry of shock before disappearing, replaced by a facedown card.

Even as he raised one eyebrow, Demetrius drew his next card. He then studied the field before sliding one card into his Magic and Trap Zones. "I begin with Monster Reborn, revivifying my Guardian Sphinx!"

The long-forgotten Tarfoot on Mako's field shone, thickening the ocean around Demetrius into a blue gel. This did not prevent the symbol of Monster Reborn flashing into being, nor did it stop the Guardian Sphinx from shattering the conveyor belt and rising up... although it did stop it before it got completely out. (1,700/2,400)

"Next," the older man continued, "I summon a Chain Thrasher to the field in Attack Mode!"

A bubble of air expanded into being, holding back the waters around it. Within this bubble emerged a young blonde man, dressed in a tight uniform. His right arm was bandaged, and he wore a leather glove on the left hand; his right hand held the coils of chain that gave him his name. (1,000/600) For a moment, another one appeared in shadow behind the first.

Holding up another card, Demetrius added, "And to increase his power, I'll lend him this Equip Magic Card - the Sword of Deep-Seated, granting him 500 More Attack Points!"

The Chain Thrasher smirked, holding up the free end of his chain. It warped and mutated, becoming a larger, wicked barb. (1,000/,600 - 1,500/600)

All Mako could do was whimper slightly, bracing his feet. _This... will sting._

Demetrius stooped, retrieving his cane, and then gestured towards Mako's facedown monster. "Reflect Bounder, kill that hidden one, will you?"

The machine nodded, slamming its arms into its sides to shake off rust. It then began to spin again, the axe in its hands leaving the water cleaved in its wake. With a few more rotations, it let the weapon fly, hurtling it towards the facedown monster.

For a second, the oceans parted, and then the axe cleaved cleanly through Mako's facedown monster, revealed to be a hideous humanoid being, more fish than man. (2,400/1,200) It staggered for a moment, and then fell into two separate halves, which shattered on hitting the conveyor.

"My Amphibian Beast..." Mako muttered.

Catching his hat on his cane, Demetrius flipped it into the air, tipping it once it reached his head. "Pity. Now, Chain Thrasher, take down his Mermaid Knight!" he ordered.

The warrior lifted the barbed end of his chain over his head, spinning it until it made a whistling noise with each rotation. In one smooth motion, he hurled the chain out, watching it blur through the water and impale the armored mermaid. She dropped her weapon, gurgling in pain, and then fell back, floating slain towards the ocean's surface. The Chain Thrasher pulled the barb out, and she shattered before she got there.

"And since there's a Chain Thrasher in my Graveyard, I may attack again with him, so I'll have him dispose of the 7-Colored Fish!" the older duelist noted.

As the barb sank back towards the conveyor, the Chain Thrasher watched it intently, gauging how it sank. It fell near to the 7-Colored Fish, and as it did, the warror gave his chain one careful twist. The barb spun suddenly, slicing through the fish's body, and it flopped about on the platform a moment before shattering.

With nothing left on his field but Umi, Mako raised his arms to cover himself.

Demetrius grinned, shouting, "Take this, Mako-boy! Guardian Sphinx, direct attack with Monolith Crash!"

Once more, the sphinx raised its mighty, stone paw, holding it over Mako. It then brought it down, holding it for a second before dragging the paw away. Much like the last time, the fisherman was flat on his stomach, limbs twitching as his Life Points dropped to 1,050.

"My turn is over," Demetrius said. "Any last moves?"

With a grunt, Mako stood up, swaying on his feet. He then drew a card, and what remained of his thought processes after the Guardian Sphinx's attack kicked in. "I set this facedown," he mumbled, "and end my turn."

"Did you just switch to Kansai Regional for a moment there?" Demetrius asked as he drew. "Well, whatever... Chain Thrasher, end the duel with Chain Rend."

A light went on in Mako's eyes, and he yelled, "Did you forget I play this trap? Activate Tornado Wall!"

Merely looking at his nails, the older man replied, "I chain with my Malfunction Counter Trap. At the cost of 500 points, I can negate that trap and set it facedown again - but that ends the chain, so you can't prevent the attack again. This duel is done, Mr. Tsunami."

Demetrius's trap lifted up, and an explosion struck the bottom of Mako's card. It fell back to the ground, and as it did the Chain Thrasher gave him a mean look, spinning his chain. Even as he prepared to lose, Mako thought, _Well... I suppose it's my fault for underestimating American talent._

Out flew the chain, and it wrapped around Mako's body tightly, sword locking against the coils. The Chain Thrasher gave it a couple of test tugs, and then yanked hard. The barb ripped into Mako's back, and the fisherman gave a loud yell, spinning off of his feet and crashing over the surface of the conveyor. His Life Points dropped to zero as he finally landed.

The marks faded from Demetrius's hands and neck, and he watched them do so without changing expression. He then looked over to Mako.

Groans left the fisherman's lips as he sat up, holding his back, and he looked to Demetrius for a moment before muttering, "You... you _gaijin,_ you..."

"Why did I know you were going to call me that?" the American replied.

In one burst, all of the marks of the Darkness Infection left Mako, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Taking measured footsteps, Demetrius walked up to his defeated opponent, checking his pulse and his breathing. Once satisfied they were normal, he shut off his Duel Disk, pocketed his deck...

...and then pumped his fists in the air, shouting, "HURRAH! The first among equals prevails over a man who challenged Yugi Motoh AND Joey Wheeler! No longer are all my triumphs confined to this continent! This one is definitely going into the autobiography!" He then paused, lowered his hands, and admitted to himself, "Granted, some editing will be required. I doubt readers will accept a mystical disease was part of the equation."

Tucking his cane under one arm, the American Number One headed for the exit of Underwater Adventures, thinking, _I had best find Gerald and report the fulfillment of my debt. If the Pillar of Death has found him, said debt may not yet be filled..._

**0000000**

In his home, a small affair on the outskirts of the Twin Cities, Ulysses Cantrell straightened his clothes and stared into the fireplace, watching the bones from his earlier scrying blacken and break. As they did so, he felt a dose of relief. He'd done another scrying that day, one to see how the previous battle of the Light had turned out, and it was positive - enough so that those bones could be reused.

As he stared into the fire, a premonition hit him, one that felt like the vision he had received twenty years ago except not as painful. He sank onto one knee, feeling a sudden burst of urgency throughout his body.

When it faded, he sighed, standing up and moving to a side cabinet. He opened it, took out several acorns, an aloe leaf and a sprig of holly, and tucked them into his pockets.

"No such thing as an ex-Chosen of the Light," Ulysses muttered to himself. "But why am I getting called back?"

**PENGUIN TORPEDO**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: WATER/Aqua/Lv. 3/750/600  
Image: A torpedo with a penguin's features added to it.  
Effect: This card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly. At the end of the Battle Phase after this card is Normal Summoned, Flip-Summoned, or Special Summoned, destroy this card. (This card counts as being destroyed in battle if destroyed by its effect.)

**REVENGE SACRIFICE**  
Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: A frightened woman being menaced by evil hands and wrapped in red tentacles.  
Effect: You may only activate this trap when a monster you control is destroyed by an opponent's monster. Tribute that monster and Special Summon a Tribute Monster you control to your field.  
_Note: Both of the above cards were used by Krump in the two-part original series episode "Freeze Play". All creative credit goes to the writers of those episodes. "Penguin Torpedo" has undergone slight modifications._

**TREASURE MAP**  
Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: A treasure map, complete with X.  
Effect: If this card is returned from your field to your hand, you may draw two cards. This card is then discarded from your hand.  
_Note: This card was first used by Chazz in the GX episode "Chazz-anova". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**KAIRYU-SHIN**  
Type: Normal Monster Card  
Statistics: WATER/Sea Serpent/Lv. 5/1850/1500  
Image: A long, blue sea serpent with no eyes and massive jaws, rearing back out of a roaring sea.  
Flavor Text: A sea dragon known as the King of the Ocean, it attacks its enemies with huge tidal waves.  
_Note: This card was first used by Mako in the original series episode "Attack from the Deep". Although it has appeared in the video games, I am unsure as to whether it has ever come out in the real game._

**TARFOOT**  
Type: Continuous Trap Card  
Image: A Penguin Soldier with its feet caught in mud.  
Effect: As long as this card remains face-up, all effects that returns Monsters on the field to their owner's hands are negated.  
_Note: This card was created by Brian Corvello for his story "Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Messiah". All creative credit goes to him. Used with permission._

_Coming next chapter: Reston has picked his next target, and it's Chad Montmelier. The artist and his beasts now face the Pillar of Death, and they must try to defeat a strategy that not only is unknown to them, but has already brought down one of their allies. Can the force of nature overcome the threat of death harnessed? The answer is to be found in Chapter Twenty-Eight, "Contamination"._


	29. Contamination

**_I don't get sick easily. It's a little blessing I've had since I was a child. Oh, I got chickenpox like every other kid, but that was about it. I think I've had one cold in my entire life, I've never had the flu, and most of the other seasonal diseases pass by me._**

**_You think I'd make a segue into the Darkness Infection from here, wouldn't you? But that isn't the important factor at the moment. You see, there are two diseases of note in this city right now. One is the aforementioned Darkness Infection, and the other is the Dark Snake Syndrome. I have no idea why Industrial Illusions printed that card - it may be the most disturbing burn card in the game._**

**_I can see why Laura lost. Dealing with this card could break anyone, especially used by someone like this. How Degas and Alexander can stay sane working with him I will never know._**

**_But like I said, I don't get sick easily. If I lose to him, not only will I have succumbed to the Darkness Infection, but I will have let Laura and Gerald both down. This I will not allow!_**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Contamination**

An hour after Gerald Laxina's party had entered the Mall of America, Chad Montmelier collapsed onto a hard plastic bench, feet aching. He doubted that he had missed a single spot in Camp Snoopy, and yet he had not seen any signs of the Pillar of Darkness, aside from the large number of Darkness Infected slumped about the place.

Glancing over to his left, he could see a line of unconscious people stretched out in front of the entrance to the Ghost Blasters ride. A small, square wall in front of the ride usually played a video explaining the ride's premise on a continuous loop, but when Lucifer had turned the power on it had failed to turn on the video as well.

Chad then wondered where Lucifer had gone after the lights had turned on - the Beloved of Fire had not returned from wherever he had gone to turn on the lights. Thinking of Lucifer caused Chad's mind to segue to Vivienne, and the artist smiled, leaning back against the bench as he thought about the girl.

_After all this is done,_ he thought, _I wonder if she'll go back to France. Maybe she can stay a while if I ask... assuming Lucifer doesn't immolate me just for asking._ He briefly shuddered before thinking, _She does seem to like me. That may just be me reading too much into her enthusiasm - she seems to feel that way about_ everything. _However... we only met the other day, so I need to give it some time..._

The chain of thought broke off as Chad heard three low booms, off towards the southern entrance to the park. He pushed himself to his feet, expression grim, and adjusted his Duel Disk. "I know that sound," he muttered, heading towards the source.

**0000000**

The man in green and the man in black walked back into the mirror room, the former carrying a thin notebook. He finished making notes before handing it to the other man.

"At this rate, the other projects will be complete by tomorrow night," Degas noted as he studied the notebook. "Adjusting the growth rate was a wise idea, as it prevents them from burning out their dark energy supplies. However, we'll still need more in order to finish the maturation of the later three..."

Alexander wrote down his partner's words as they moved to their chairs. "It would also come in handy to complete our... other plan. After all, I only have so much energy at any given time." He then scowled. "Not to mention it would hurt much less coming from a source that isn't my body."

Shaking his head, Degas flipped through his notes, musing aloud, "There are several ways we could harvest enough energy to perform the necessary actions. Most of the major sources are already being tapped by particularly powerful beings, though..."

"Such as?" the Dark Conduit asked.

"The contact points between our world and the Abyss, for example, are under the control of the Maeljin Thuriforge. Do you want to be the one to chase him off?"

Involuntarily, Alexander shivered.

"Exactly," the Hand of Darkness said. "Let us consider ourselves lucky he rarely deigns to leave the Shadow Realm. However, there is one way for us to gather the necessary energy to finish the projects. Do you recognize this man?" He handed his notebook to Alexander.

Taking it, the man in green studied the pages for a second before his eyes widened. "Are you serious about this, Degas?"

The man in black simply said, "Yes. This morning I cast a spell to pin down his location. Once we know where he went after the Monster Island incident, we will send Hanzaki to... recruit him."

One of Alexander's hands moved to hide his frown as the other snapped its fingers, turning on the mirrors. One showed Mako Tsunami's unconscious form, while another showed Chad Montmelier wandering through Camp Snoopy. A third showed Sol Kilkarn laying comatose in the food court, and a fourth revealed Gerald Laxina on patrol.

"It appears Demetrius Lark remains undefeated," Alexander noted as he saw the image of the defeated Mako.

With a sigh, Degas replied, "As expected. Remind me to have Hanzaki drop him off on Okinawa later. Speaking of which, where is our Lycra-clad manservant, anyway?" He then paused and added, "And where has your girlfriend gone off to, while we're on the subject of mysterious disappearances?"

"Bethany said she needed something from the Twin Cities, so I had Hanzaki take her out there," Alexander said. "It shouldn't take her long."

Degas scowled. "Just make sure she doesn't seriously interfere with our plans." He then glanced to Sol's form and commented, "Reston has done well - that makes one free radical and one of Gerald's party he has brought down so far. And from the looks of things, it will be two of Gerald's party shortly."

The interest drained from Alexander's face, and he laid back in his chair, sighing.

**0000000**

As Chad approached the Tree Swing, near the south entrance to Camp Snoopy, he broke out into an uncontrollable cold sweat. Massive shivers ran unbidden down his spine, and he felt like he was going to explode if he didn't scream. _Pillar,_ he thought, and swallowed hard.

Despite every instinct that told him to do otherwise, he stepped forward... and the feelings evaporated. With a sigh of relief, he moved closer to the Tree Swing.

The Pillar of Death was standing in front of the entrance queue, arms crossed. He had already put on his oxygen mask, and his coat was pulled tighter around his body as he stood there, occasionally twitching. His eyes glanced into Chad's, and the artist recoiled slightly.

And then Chad thought back to a news article he had read several months before, and he frowned. "Paul Arthur Eckhart, the Wandering Hospital Reaper," he said, hand to his chin. "So that explains where you went after the transport crashed."

"Now going by Reston," the sick man said before breaking into a vicious cough. The inside of his oxygen mask spattered with blood before he pulled a syringe out of his pocket and jabbed it into his neck, hand slamming down on the plunger. Once the coughing stopped, he pulled the needle out, wiped it on a piece of tissue, and tucked it back into his pocket before removing his mask, shutting off the flow, and wiping it out.

"You still have the Feinglory's?" Chad asked, head tilting. "I would think becoming a Pillar would cure that."

Shaking his head, Reston replied, "Just suspended it. Cure not forthcoming until after job complete. You part of job." He then put the oxygen mask back on, adjusting the straps. "Hope you prove greater challenge than Laura. Girl fell too quickly. Did not get to test true combo."

The mention of Laura made Chad wince, his mind flashing back to her appearance after the duel. He then lifted his Duel Disk and activated it, loading his deck. "Allow me to assure you - I won't disappoint you. But you are _not_ going to win."

"Test hypothesis?" Reston replied, holding up his arms. Black lightning danced around them, gathering on his right arm. Soon the lightning became a sheath of unearthly light, which faded to reveal a pale Duel Disk. He lowered his arms, and then waved his left hand towards Chad.

The mall began to blur and transform around them, and the tall man asked, "What are you up to?"

"Changing to more appropriate battlefield."

**0000000**

A feeling of sheer wrongness struck all three of the other non-Infected in the Mall of America.

In contrast to Chad's worries, Lucifer had not actually left the power room once the lights came on. Instead, he had spent some time turning on the other switches, restoring full power to the building. Working out the panels had taken a good hour, and as soon as the job was finished, he could feel it within himself. "Ze Pillar has found Monsieur Montmelier," he whispered. "Ze Divine help you... and don't you _dare_ break my Vivienne's heart..."

Demetrius Lark was on the third floor when he felt it. He dropped his cane as the feeling struck him, muttering, "Oh, bother..." Retrieving it, he headed back to the first floor, saying, "Nothing I can do but wish him good luck."

And as Gerald rounded the Macy's corner, he tripped when the feeling erupted in him. With a gasp of "Chad...", he took off running toward the southern entrance to Camp Snoopy. By the time he got there, however, the two duelists were gone, replaced with an orb of darkness...

**0000000**

Once the world stopped going crazy, Chad stood up, head aching slightly. He then assessed the current location, confused.

The Mall of America was gone, and now he was standing in the middle of a dried, desiccated field. The grass was dead all around him, and the sky was a sickly gray. Reston stood across from him, still standing before the Tree Swing - but the tree was now real, its leaves blood-red, and the swings...

The tall man could not resist gagging. Every one of the swings had vanished, replaced by a corpse swaying from a noose. None of the corpses looked particularly fresh, either.

"Nice touch," Chad murmured as his stomach turned over, "but did you have to be so dramatic?"

Reston shrugged, holding up his Duel Disk. "Begin game."

Glaring at his opponent, Chad nodded, and both Life Point counters shot up to 8,000. The duel was underway.

"I begin," Reston said, drawing his six cards. He fanned them out, those inhuman eyes flicking over them. "Set one monster in Defense Mode," he then said, the hologram appearing before him, "and card facedown. Play Dark Room of Nightmare."

As the Continuous Magic Card appeared, the field began to break up around Chad. Four pillars slowly rose from the ground, locking into place in the four corners around the young man. Fields of darkness came into being between them, but Chad could still see his opponent, who calmly looked back.

"End turn," the Pillar of Death concluded.

_Dark Room of Nightmare... that adds 300 points to any Effect Damage I take,_ Chad thought as he drew his opening hand. _It only works if you play a lot of Effect Damage, so he's either using monster effects or a Burn Deck. Either way, he won't attack much. _"I summon Exarion Universe!" he shouted as he played his first card.

For a moment, the dismal skies overhead turned into a starry night, and in a blur, the green-skinned centaur appeared, upper body concealed in thin blue armor and face masked. He held up his hand, and a beam of starlight fell on it, transforming into a javelin. Spinning this weapon, the Exarion Universe stamped his forefeet. (1,800/1,900)

"I set one card facedown," Chad said, thinking, _Even if he doesn't attack very often, every deck takes a shot when it can._ He then paused, doing some mental math, before declaring, "I activate Exarion Universe's effect, lowering its Attack Points by 400 to give it a trampling effect until the end of the turn! Attack his monster with Stardust Javelin!"

Green energy crackled out from the centaur's arm, covering his javelin. (1,800/1,900 - 1,400/1,900) He sprang backwards into the air, arm whipping about and throwing the weapon down at Reston's monster. It made impact, striking home... but then a linen-wrapped hand grabbed it out of the sky. The monster was revealed as two mummies in decaying purple wrappings, exhaling noxious fumes. (1,000/1,800)

"Ah... Poison Mummy," Chad noted, right before they threw the javelin back at him. It struck him through the stomach, causing him to shout in pain as the energy discharged throughout his body. His limbs twitched, and he staggered on his feet as his Life Points dropped to 7,600.

To add to the pain, Reston noted, "Effect. When turned face-up, 500 Life Points lost." He went silent, whereupon one of the mummies tore open its stomach. A cloud of purple smoke rolled out from the opening and covered Chad, causing him to break into a fit of coughing. He hacked for several moments, sinking to one knee and resting one hand on the ground as his Life Points went down to 7,100.

And then energy shot between the columns of the Dark Room of Nightmare, and dark lightning struck into his body from all four. Chad convulsed as it ran through his system, and he fell to the ground, breathing hard as his Life Points finally set at 6,800.

He pushed himself back onto his knees, coughing again before saying, "That... will do it for my turn." In front of him, Exarion Universe snapped his fingers, causing another javelin to appear in his hand.

Drawing his next card, Reston slid his finger over the tops of his hand before picking a card out and playing it. "Summon Exiled Force."

A small army of men in armor appeared on the field, carrying various weapons and gear. They looked haggard, as if their time traveling had left them worn out and beaten. Several of them had glazed eyes, and all of them wore bandages.

Blinking, Chad wondered around, "I've never understood why exactly they were exiled."

"Plague dogs," Reston replied. "Banished to avoid infecting rest of army. By sacrificing them, can destroy one monster on your field. Will do so to destroy Exarion Universe."

The soldiers suddenly turned much more menacing. Every one of them adopted a foul grin, and the bandages fell away to reveal open sores and draining wounds. They marched across the field, their bodies melting until finally all that was left was a rolling black cloud. This fell over the Exarion Universe, which suddenly grabbed at his throat as if he couldn't breathe.

In front of Chad's eyes, as he stared in shock, the Beast-Warrior melted where he stood, his green flesh rolling away as the skin and muscle fell away from the bone. Nothing was left after thirty seconds.

Reston watched the scene without any real interest. Instead, he slid a card into his Duel Disk and announced, "One card facedown. End turn."

Once his hands stopped shaking, Chad drew his next card, adding it to his hand. He sorted his cards and then declared, "I set one card facedown, and summon the Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode!"

This time, as the eyeless, yellow-furred dog trotted onto Chad's field, it wasn't snarling or growling. In matter of fact, it did nothing to live up to its "mad dog" title. Instead, it seemed scared, whimpering as it stepped onto the dead grass. (1,900/1,400)

It was an unnerving sight, and so Chad took a deep breath before playing his next card. "I really think you've picked a bad battleground," he said, his voice on the verge of shouting, "so I'm going to change the scenery! I play my Forest Magic Card, giving all Beasts and Beast-Warriors 200 extra Attack and Defense Points!"

But as the ground shook and a multitude of trees pushed their way out from underground, it was clear that whatever power Reston had invoked to create this desolate arena would not be denied. For the trees were not the healthy deciduous trees that Forest usually created, the lush oaks and cedars of the deep woods.

These trees were skeletal, leafless elms and willows, branches brittle and reaching out as if trying to skin both duelists. They struggled to force their way into view, and even as they rose up the hanging tree behind Reston glowed black, its presence sucking even more life from the plants so that their trunks were warped and gnarled.

But as dead as the forest was, it still had power, and its presence calmed the Mad Dog of Darkness. (1,900/1,400 - 2,100/1,600)

_No need to risk that trap yet,_ Chad thought. "I end my turn."

"Yes," Reston replied as he drew a card. He then shook his head and slid a card into his disk. "Play Magical Mallet to shuffle hand into deck and draw new cards." Taking his two remaining cards, he slid them back into the deck and drew anew. He only gave them a moment's glance before taking one and saying, "Set one monster in Defense Mode. End turn."

A chill wind crossed the field as Chad drew, and he shuddered, thinking, _I can't allow this duel to get to me or I've lost already... _He then held out one of his cards before playing it with a shout of, "I summon my Enraged Battle Ox in Attack Mode!"

Just leaving Chad's hand seemed to have sapped most of the Battle Ox's rage from it. The armored minotaur had a very tight grip on its ax as it emerged, muscles tense and weapon held close. Its boots scuffed along the ground as it moved through the dead trees. (1,700/1,000) Soon, however, it adjusted to the environment, baring its teeth. (1,700/1,000 - 1,900/1,200)

Taking a deep breath, Chad let out a yell of, "Enraged Battle Ox, attack the Poison Mummy!"

One of Reston's hands went to his ear as he said, "Why yelling? Standing right here."

"Sorry," the tall man replied, suddenly sheepish. "Trying to ease my nerves..." He then frowned, thinking, _Yeah, TELL the Pillar you're scared. Brilliant, Montmelier._

Regardless of its master's _faux pas_, the minotaur charged through the dead woods, hefting its axe. It brought the weapon around in a furious arc, the blade cleaving through the purple-wrapped mummies. Both exploded into a cloud of toxic dust, but before it could even reach him the Enraged Battle Ox had leapt back.

To its misfortune, the Enraged Battle Ox landed directly on a crack in the earth. The crack widened in seconds, becoming a gaping wound in the landscape, and the minotaur plunged to its death, axe hanging in the air for a moment before it followed him.

"Michizure," Reston explained as the activated trap faded away. "Destroy one of your monsters when one on this side destroyed in battle."

Chad narrowed his eyes, a growl leaving him as he turned to the Mad Dog of Darkness. "Destroy his facedown monster, Mad Dog of Darkness."

The eyeless canine ran through the dead forest, heading for Reston's monster. It jaws opened wide, and it clamped them shut on the targeted foe, which was revealed as a large mass of blue gelatin in a rough X shape. (800/1,000) Pieces of it flew everywhere, and the dog let out a yelp of pain, spitting a piece of it out.

Part of the slain monster flew through the air and hit Chad's cheek. He raised an eyebrow, and then let out a scream as it burned into his skin before falling away, leaving a large red mark. After a moment, he tentatively raised a hand to it and then winced as he pulled his hand away, Life Points left at 6,000. Around him, the Dark Room of Nightmare ran electricity through his body again, sending him to 5,700 Life Points.

As before, Reston explained: "Acid Slime. Deals 800 Life Points of damage when destroyed."

Taking a few breaths between clenched teeth, Chad said, "I end my turn."

Reston took the top card off of his deck, turned it over, and gave it a long look before slipping it into the Duel Disk. "Vase of Unholy Blight. Remove Mystic Tomato from deck to draw thrice."

The even more evil cousin of the Pot of Greed flashed into being, and a horrible-looking tomato appeared atop it before turning red and "liquefying" down into it.

The vase shattered, and Reston took three cards off the top of his deck with one pull, fanning them out before playing two, announcing, "One card facedown. And..." He held up the other card before playing it. "Dark Snake Syndrome."

A sudden rush of weakness overcame Chad, and the tall man's knees buckled before he sank to one knee. He wiped off his forehead, which was suddenly dotted with sweat, before realizing his skin was warm to the touch. Glancing to his hand, he could see a snakelike mark on the back, and frowned.

Already colored with the same markings, Reston ignored them, placing a card on a Monster Zone. "One monster in Defense Mode. End turn."

Shutting his eyes, Chad forced himself to concentrate, trying to shake the worry that was running through him. And then he paused, as his mind stumbled on something far more frightening.

He could hear a quiet snarl inside of his head, still soft and easy to ignore under the constant turmoil and high volume of the average human mind. It was part of his consciousness, but it had no civility, no sentience, only the most primitive and basic drives. And as he listened to it, he could hear it drawing strength from the darkness surrounding him.

_How long has that sat there?_ Chad wondered as he pushed back onto his feet. _I know it could not have come into being too long ago, because I think I would notice if part of my mind went feral on me... Maybe this is what was left after the duel with Klaus?_

"Make move," the Pillar of Death said, eyes narrowed.

Snapping back to attention, Chad drew his next card, hearing the snarling increase inside his head. "I play Pot of Greed!" he began, throwing the card down and drawing two more. He then added, "Now I'll summon my Pitch-Black Warwolf in Attack Mode!"

The dead forest began to shake as something large and powerful made its way through the trees. Over the heads of both duelists, a shadow blurred past, before coming down for a landing on Chad's field. It was a large, muscular wolf-headed man, a black pelt covering its body and a sharp blade in one hand. (1,600/600) Dead or not, this forest was its home, and so it howled in fury. (1,600/600 - 1,800/800)

Even as he felt one hand curling into a claw, Chad fought it off, ordering, "Pitch-Black Warwolf, attack his facedown monster with Lupine Blade..."

Growling its consent, the Beast-Warrior sprang across, raising its sword. It swept the blade across, cleaving the card in half. A tiny hamster briefly came into being, squeaking before its body slid into two halves. (900/400)

"Bubonic Vermin," Reston said as a card jutted out of his deck. "When flipped, as when destroyed, may set another facedown." He took the jutting card and set it on his Duel Disk.

"And it won't stick around for long - Mad Dog of Darkness, rend it," Chad replied.

The dog did as ordered, leaping across the forest with one bound of its powerful legs and biting into the facedown card. Its jaws closed on the little creature and pulled it apart.

Without further words, Reston took the third one and set it on his Duel Disk.

As the Mad Dog of Darkness returned to his field, Chad took a deep breath, shocked to hear a guttural hiss emerging as he exhaled. _What is wrong with me?_ he wondered. "I set one card facedown," he said to distract himself, "and end my turn."

Reston drew his next card, noting, "Dark Snake Syndrome activates."

At first nothing seemed to happen, and then a shock of pain ran up Chad's spine and spread through the rest of his body, tearing through him. He doubled over, gasping as his cells seemed to fall in on themselves, and bit at his lip as he staggered. The pain faded eventually, and he looked up to see Reston merely look back at him with those dead eyes, their Duel Disks registering 5,500 Life Points for Chad and 7,700 for Reston. And then the Dark Room of Nightmare charged up and struck Chad with electricity, sending his Life Points to 5,200.

"Advantage in not feeling pain," Reston noted.

In response, Chad jabbed a button on his Duel Disk, feral noises emerging from his lips as he did. The Numinous Healer on his field lifted up, and the sky directly over his fiend changed from gray to blue. A single beam of sunlight fell on him, and the angelic nurse stood behind him, brushing the acid burn on his cheek.

The tall man's Life Points rose to 6,200, and the burn vanished before the angel disappeared.

The Pillar of Death merely blinked as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Activate Dust Tornado to destroy Forest."

The corpses hanging from the tree behind him began to sway, a breeze picking up behind the Pillar of Death. It increased in ferocity, the hanging bodies rocking on their branches and then veering sharply to one side as the hanging tree withstood this storm. The dead trees of Chad's Forest, however, unrooted in due time and flew off into the distance, shattering over their heads.

"Set one monster in Defense Mode," Reston then said, "and end turn."

Once the Numinous Healer had activated, Chad could feel his mind repairing itself, but a shudder still clung to him. _That... that savage part of my mind gains power every time I lose Life Points... Come to think of it, in the last two duels I was in, I snarled and growled after taking large hits. What will happen to me if I lose?_ He shook his head, drawing a card as he declared, "Pitch-Black Warwolf, attack his first facedown monster!"

With a low bark, the Warwolf ran forward and brought his sword down hard on Reston's monster, revealed as the last Bubonic Vermin. It let out a squeal before falling into two pieces, shattering a moment later.

"And now, Mad Dog of Darkness, attack his other monster!" Chad continued.

The eyeless canine leapt across the dead field, its claws and jaws tearing into the facedown card. It came into view a second later, a wall made of human muscle and tissue, rudely stitched into a bone frame and with a purple face at its center. The face was disturbingly feminine, staring back at Chad. (1,000/1,850) The dog paid it no mind, however, being blind, and merely locked its jaws on the face, tearing it cleanly off of the rest of the structure, which then shattered.

And then, a hideous scream broke the still air, and the Mad Dog of Darkness vanished, the card returning automatically to Chad's hand.

"Wall of Illusion," Reston noted. "Returns attacking monster to owner's hand."

Nodding his acknowledgement, Chad adjusted his hand, offhandedly replying, "I'll end my turn."

The Pillar of Death drew his next card, now holding two cards in his hand, and then said, "Dark Snake Syndrome activates."

The simplicity of those words belied their actual effect, as the world around Chad turned a deep red and his veins bulged, the pain twice what it was before. He fought to stay on his feet, his stomach churning as his body tortured him. Eventually, he bit hard into his own cheek, blood trickling out of his mouth as his Life Points droped to 5,800. And then the Dark Room of Nightmare charged up, but as its lightning bolts hit him and sent his Life Points to 5,500, it seemed only a minor concern.

Reston's own Life Points were now at 7,300, but he paid no attention to it, instead playing one of his cards. "No wish to be attacked. Activate Nightmare's Steelcage to prevent such assault for two turns."

Around the duelists, the soil of the dead field fell away as something new pushed itself to the surface. It was a large steel ring, small amounts of rust on its exterior, and it settled atop the land. Thin ribbons of spiked steel threw themselves over the heads of Chad and Reston, locking into place on all sides of the men, and a crisscrossed metal wall dropped into the center, cutting both sides off from each other.

"Hate repeating moves, but no choice," the Pillar of Death mused. "End turn."

After wiping the blood off of his mouth, Chad spat on the Nightmare's Steelcage, drawing his next card. He then glanced to the Dark Snake Syndrome card on Reston's field, looked back to his card, and nodded. Playing it, he announced, "I summon Chiron the Mage in Attack Mode!"

Even as the card left his hand, Chad could feel the growling presence in his mind fading to a lesser pitch. _Such a civilized monster must weaken its hold,_ he thought.

A circle of red light drew itself on the ground, multiple strange symbols drawing themselves within its boundries. A beam of light came from the circle's center, and soon the staff-wielding centaur appeared within it. He dismissed the circle with a wave of the staff, and then set the weapon over his shoulder, glaring at the Pillar. (1,800/1,000)

"Chiron's speciality is altering magical energy for other uses," Chad explained, takng another card from his hand. "By giving up one Magic Card from my hand, I can take out one of your Magic or Trap Cards. So I give up my Snatch Steal..." _Which would be worthless anyway, given that you can't play it on set monsters, _he thought as he put the card in his Graveyard. "...to destroy the Dark Snake Syndrome!"

This statement caused Reston to blink. It was the second time that duel.

For a moment, the image of the Snatch Steal card reflected in the orb atop Chiron's staff, and then he slammed the point into the ground. A reverberation spread out from the point of impact, causing an answering reverberation under the Dark Snake Syndrome. It accordingly shattered.

The markings of the disease left Chad, and he exhaled, sighing deeply with the last twinges of pain. "That will be all," he concluded.

Black vapor left Reston's hands as the Dark Snake Syndrome faded, and he drew his next card, showing no reaction to the destruction of the Syndrome. He put his new draw in his hand, took the other card there, and played it as he said, "Card of Demise. Draw five cards, discard hand in five turns."

Five candles appeared at the Pillar of Death's feet, and each lit itself in turn. Over Reston's head, however, the Nightmare's Steelcage was beginning to rust, flecks of it floating down overhead.

Pulling exactly five cards from the top of his deck, Reston spread them out, looking at them before taking two. "Set card facedown, play Dark Snake Syndrome."

Another wave of dizziness passed over Chad, and the markings came back to life as he muttered, "Oh, not again..."

"Really thought only played one? Foolish." The sick man took one last card from his hand and put it on the Duel Disk. "Monster in Defense Mode. End turn." One candle went out.

_He has a point,_ Chad thought as he drew his next card. Overhead, one of the beams of the Nightmare's Steelcage let out a loud crack as it rusted through. _Any strategy relying on the Dark Snake Syndrome would play multiples, just in case someone blew one up like I did. But still..._ He glnaced at his hand and then declared, "I summon my Mad Dog of Darkness again."

Even though it couldn't see where it was, the eyeless dog still looked unhappy to be on the dead field. It whined and pulled back onto its haunches. (1,900/1,400)

"Now I set this facedown..." The tall man did so. "And end my turn."

A screw fell from the cage overhead, and then the entire Nightmare's Steelcage collapsed in on itself, sending up a massive cloud of dust as it fell apart.

Deep inside his chest, Chad could feel something twitch as Reston drew his next card. The Pillar of Death then paused, and a wave of pain shot through Chad's body, the Dark Snake Syndrome at work. His body had adjusted, however, and so he just let this lesser pain work through him.

The Dark Room of Nightmare then charged up and sent electricity through his body, but Chad merely gave Reston a look as his Life Points went to 5,000 and Reston's went to 7,000.

The Pillar of Death did not even notice the look, instead taking a card and saying, "Summon Tribe-Infecting Virus in Attack Mode."

A blue-skinned, vaguely reptilian humanoid staggered into view, breathing heavily as it did so. It then let out a sob and collapsed, rotting away on the spot. In its place hovered a brown cloud, whisps reaching around Reston's body. (1,600/1,000)

For a moment, the Pillar of Death seemed confused. His eyes moved from Chad's Pitch-Black Warwolf to his Chiron the Mage, and then over to the Mad Dog of Darkness. Finally, Reston sighed, saying, "Not as effective as against Laura. Multiple types in play. Can only destroy one type per turn."

"So that's how you beat Laura?" Chad asked, shaking his head. "I'm afraid that this deck takes a different tack from hers. You can't use the same tricks against me."

"Know that. Still, have other ways to deal with it. For now..." Reston took one of his other cards and slid it in his Graveyard. "Discard Sinister Serpent to destroy Beast-Warriors."

The brown cloud flared up and flew out, forcing itself into the mouths of the Warwolf and Chiron. As the Mad Dog of Darkness turned its head from one to the other, confused, both of the other monsters began to cough. And then fur fell from the Warwolf's sides, large sores beginning to appear, and Chiron dropped his staff in order to grab his chest...

Soon the sores grew in size, covering most of the Warwolf's body, and it stuck out its swollen tongue, whimpering in pain. The sores oozed a thick pus, and it fell to the ground, helpless. Chiron's legs gave out, and the centaur collapsed, his body withering away...

By the time Chad thought he couldn't take anymore, both monsters shattered, and he fought a sudden wave of nausea. Reston, meanwhile, merely shook his head and said, "Set card facedown. End turn." A second candle blew out on his field.

For a few moments, the only sounds in the artist's mind were animalistic whimpers and whines, until he shook his head and focused his will. The sounds silenced, and he frowned, drawing his next card. He then declared, "I activate my Call of the Haunted, raising my Enraged Battle Ox from the dead."

Fog gathered on the dead field, and then the ground in front of Chad split open, a muscled arm bearing an axe forcing its way out. Another powerful arm grabbed hold of the surface, and soon the minotaur pulled itself from beneath the soil, one of its horns cracked but otherwise in good shape. It shook the dirt off of its axe and snorted. (1,700/1,000)

All the Pillar of Death did in reply was tap a button on the pale Duel Disk he wore, revealing his facedown card. "Nightmare Wheel seals Mad Dog of Darkness in response."

The skies flashed red, and the terrible Catherine wheel appeared in a burst of fire. Gore-stained chains whipped from its surface and caught Chad's monster, pulling the canine onto its front. Those chains sealed it in place, and it began to whine in fear as the wheel slowly began to turn.

Fighting the urge to snarl, Chad gestured to the cloud on Reston's field, saying, "Enraged Battle Ox, rid this place of the Tribe-Infecting Virus."

The minotaur raised its axe high over its head, tensed its muscles, and then brought the weapon down hard. A gust of wind flew out from where it stood and struck the brown cloud of viruses, breaking it apart. Wisps of disease flew every which way, scattering on the breeze.

One such wisp hit Reston, slipping under his oxygen mask. He burst into a fit of coughing, sinking to one knee and spattering his mask with blood as his Life Points lowered to 6,900. After a moment's searching of his pockets, the sick man retrieved his syringe, filled it, and jabbed the needle into his neck.

"What is that stuff, anyway?" Chad asked, blinking.

"Steroid mixture designed by staff at Johns Hopkins. Stabilizes circulatory system and promotes clotting. When taken during coughing fit, ends it." The Pillar of Death shut off the oxygen tank and removed his mask, taking a napkin from his pocket.

"I see..." Chad shook his head. "Your move."

Once he was done cleaning out his oxygen mask, Reston put it back on and drew a card. "Dark Snake Syndrome..."

And the red haze filled their vision again as the disease went to work. Chad bit his lip, but he had felt this level of pain as well, so he was able to tolerate it. _I wonder if Laura had trouble at this level,_ he wondered. _They say women have better pain tolerance than men, and she's a martial artist... but until Reston falls and I can ask her personally, I have no way to know._

Reston, meanwhile, merely thought, _Still looking for key combination._ His Life Points had lowered to 6,500, and Chad had fallen to 4,600. The Dark Room of Nightmare then pitched in, shocking him and leaving Chad with 4,300 Life Points as he groaned.

After checking to make sure he still had blood flow, the Pillar of Death held up one hand. A card appeared in it as he said, "Sinister Serpent back in hand by own effect." He set it on one Monster Zone and slid a card into his Duel Disk, noting, "One monster in Defense Mode and one card facedown. Take turn." The third candle blew out.

The moment Chad drew his next card, there was a clicking noise, and the Nightmare Wheel holding onto his Mad Dog of Darkness began to turn. Its spikes tore into the dog's flesh, blood dripping from them as it let out a tortured baying.

And then Chad's vision turned red as a red light from the wheel hit him. Each spike cutting into the Mad Dog of Darkness caused him to feel the same pain, and he yelled at the top of his lungs, his Life Points dropping to 3,800. And the Dark Room of Nightmare only increased the agony as it shocked him, his Life Points now 3,500.

Deep within his mind, the snarls and growls escalated, their noise now at a fever pitch. He briefly wondered if summoning his Image for the first time had given it life, had allowed this most primitive part of himself to come to the fore. He wondered if it was feeding on his pain.

And then he ceased to ask questions. He could feel a strength within that bestial part of his mind. He let it loose.

Taking a deep breath, Chad roared, his body shaking as he let out that rumbling sound. Reston flinched away, and the hanging tree behind him quivered.

White smoke rose from Chad's body as he roared, slowly taking on the shape of a leonine creature with a thick mane and a horn on the center of its head. His Image, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts, now stood over him, unperturbed by the dead field around him.

The roar faded, and Chad looked into Reston's eyes. Whereas the sick man had inhuman eyes, void of any compassion or sympathy, the artist's eyes flickered from those of a cat to those of a wolf, and then to those of a hawk. They went from one animal to another with each blink.

"Ahhh, I see now," Chad said, his voice now a much deeper pitch than before. "I wonder why I resisted. I summon the Gyaku-Gire Panda in Attack Mode!"

He threw the card down, and the large, angry panda stepped forward, a stalk of bamboo in one hand. It swung its makeshift weapon around itself, barking in anger. (800/1,800)

"Each monster you have in play gives it 500 more Attack Points," he continued. As he said it, the panda growled and snapped its jaws, pounding its bamboo stalk against the ground as its rage grew. (800/1,800 - 1,800/1,800) "Gyaku-Gire Panda, kill the newest facedown monster!"

The order seemed rather unnecessary, given how enthusiastically the panda threw itself at Reston's monster. It raised the bamboo stalk overhead and swung it down, over and over again, hammering away at the targeted monster. As it was a Sinister Serpent, this was rather overkill. Green blood splashed at Reston's feet before the serpent shattered.

And then, as per its effect and that of the Enraged Battle Ox, the Gyaku-Gire Panda walked up and struck Reston across the chest with its bamboo. Bones cracked as the Pillar of Death spun to the ground, his Life Points knocked down to 5,100. He laid there for a moment, and then forced himself back onto his knees, breathing hard through the oxygen mask.

Chad's hands began to tense, and a vicious grin crossed his face as the snarling in his mind grew louder. "Enraged Battle Ox," he said, his volume increasing, "destroy his other monster with Minotaur's Ax!"

Much like with the panda, Chad almost did not need to give the order, as the minotaur charged across the field with its weapon in hand. It swung it down, smashing through the facedown monster. A blue slime appeared, splattering into a thousand pieces from the hit. (800/1,000)

Pieces of the slain monster, an Acid Slime, flew across the field. Some of its substance struck Reston, crossing him to shut his eyes as it burned into him, lowering his Life Points now to 4,400. Part of it struck Chad's stomach at the same time, burning through his shirt and causing him to howl as it sent his own Life Points to 2,700.

The pain, however, also cleared Chad's mind for a moment, and he shook his head, his eyes back to normal. "Ow..." he muttered, his head throbbing as he took another card from his hand. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." With Reston's field cleared, the Gyaku-Gire Panda returned to its original stats.

For a moment, the Pillar of Death hesitated, his fingers twitching over his deck slot. He then shut his eyes and drew the top card, causing the Dark Snake Syndrome to spring to life.

The pain this time dug deeper than ever before, causing Chad's mind to evaporate in a rush of blood and anger. His eyes squeezed shut as he sank to his knees, his body quaking as the black markings tightened against him, and then he rose to his feet again as his eyes opened. This time they were the hungry, contemplating eyes of a snake, black and slitted. His Life Points lowered to 1,900, and a trace of blood leaked out of his mouth. The Dark Room of Nightmare shocked him, but he never even noticed as his Life Points went to 1,600.

But the same pain ran over Reston, and for the first time in a long while, he could feel it through the pain of Feinglory's Systemic Circulatory Deterioration. Bruises covered his body as several of his veins tore, and he coughed up deep, red blood - arterial blood. The ill man sank into a crouch, fingers digging into his arms at the burning, unfamiliar agony. Blood dripped from within the mask as he straightened out, still shaking, and his Life Points locked at 3,600.

He looked into Chad's eyes, and the taller duelist gestured to his facedown card, saying in the deeper pitch, "I activate Numinous Healer."

The facedown card lifted, and this time there was no angelic nursemaid. Instead, Chad shut his eyes and clenched his fists, raising them over his head. He then thrust them down, and a burst of red energy flowed over him, causing him to trill in relief. His Life Points rose back up to 3,100.

All Reston did in response was shut off the oxygen tank, spit blood on the floor, and groan for a moment before saying, "Image awaken."

Black smoke rose from Reston's body, slowly gathering behind him and taking form. He held up his palms, smoke rolling off of them, and in time a creature stepped out of the smoke. It was a thin, hunched figure with orange skin, wearing a black leather tunic and pants, with a metal blindfold over its eyes. It had two shocks of green hair on either side of its head, and held its long-fingered hands out in front of it, giggling on occasion.

"Newdoria," Reston said as he pointed at it. "Make sense?"

What little rational thought Chad had in this state mused over it, and then he shook his head. "Not really."

Shrugging, Reston played a card from his hand, announcing, "Graceful Charity."

The angel that normally appeared for that card did not even dare enter the dead field. Instead, a hand reached out from the clouds and frantically gestured at the Pillar of Death's deck. He drew three cards and took two more, throwing them skyward. The hand caught them and retreated.

"Now play Ekibyo Drakmord on Gyaku-Gire Panda," he continued.

The panda in question suddenly stiffened up, dropping its bamboo stalk. Large parts of its fur fell out, revealing an ugly green rash, and its mouth locked in a pained grin. Foam began to roll over its lips as the panda fell onto all fours, clawing at the ground as unearthly growls left it.

Chad frowned, knowing that card. "It dies in two turns, correct?"

"Two of your turns, yes. Play Monster Reborn for Wall of Illusion in Attack Mode."

The symbol of resurrection glowed on the field, and the wall of flesh and muscles rose up from the ground, dirt covering its bone frame. Its face was back on, but very loose and badly stitched. (1,000/1,800)

"One card facedown," Reston concluded as he set his last card, "and end turn." The fourth candle from the Card of Demise went out, leaving one and only one burning.

With a glance to the Nightmare Wheel, on which the Mad Dog of Darkness was still strapped, Chad sank deeper into the bestial part of his mind and drew his next card. As before, the wheel turned, slicing through the beast's body, but this time Chad took the resulting pain with nothing more than a growl. His Life Points sank to 2,600, and then the Dark Room of Nightmare blasted him with electricity and made that total 2,300.

"Activate Crush Card," the Pillar of Death then said, gesturing to his facedown card, which lifted up. "Sacrifice Wall of Illusion to destroy monsters of 1,500 Attack or greater."

Hearing that drew Chad back to his senses, and he shook his head, gulping.

The Wall of Illusion turned a deep red, and its face began to panic, lips quivering as it shook and swelled. A leak sprang in one muscle, spewing red fog, and then the entire creature exploded in a mass of rotten, bloody meat and putrid bone. Clouds of red smoke passed over the dead field.

Soon the virus-laden smoke covered Chad's field, passing over the Gyaku-Gire Panda (which had its own problems) and engulfing the Enraged Battle Ox and Mad Dog of Darkness. The two began to choke, the Nightmare Wheel dropping the dog back onto Chad's field before shattering. Soon the Enraged Battle Ox rolled its eyes back into its head and bellowed before its body collapsed on itself, and the Mad Dog of Darkness howled before falling dead. They both shattered, leaving Chad without an offense.

At the moment, however, the artist's thoughts were elsewhere. _What happened to me?_ he wondered, beginning to sweat. _Every time I tap into that part of my mind, the pain goes away... but I can't **think!** It's like my body goes on autopilot! _He bit his lip, and then turned his hand towards Reston. "None of the cards in my hand are affected," he said, knowing the Crush Card's altered effect.

And then Gazelle gave a short roar, and Chad recalled that part, smirking. "Now I use Gazelle's Image Effect," he continued. "During my Standby Phase, I gain 100 Life Points for each Beast, Beast-Warrior and Winged Beast in my Graveyard, and that's six." A circle of energy surrounded his body, and he bathed in it, his Life Points up to 2,900. He then took a card from his hand, put it on the Duel Disk, and concluded, "I set this monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

For the first time since the duel had begun, Reston hesitated before taking hold of his next card, pulling it from the deck. Once again, the world turned a burning red as the Dark Snake Syndrome awoke. This time, however, it was through with the slow damage.

To Chad, it felt like an army's worth of knives were pushing themselves out from the pit of his stomach and exiting via his mouth. He convulsed, limbs thrashing about, and then dropped to his hands and knees, blood oozing out from his nose and eardrums. Brusing spread out from the markings on his arms, and he tore at his chest before the pain faded, leaving his Life Points at 1,300. As before, the Dark Room of Nightmare charged up and shocked him, sending his Life Points to 1,000, but he couldn't feel it.

But the Pillar of Death did not go unscathed. His pain just came across in a quieter manner: on drawing the card, he blinked and keeled over, body twitching as he hit the ground and shook. His limbs thrashed for a moment, and then he went still, eyes shut. His Life Points stopped at 2,000.

On rising to his feet, Chad wiped the blood from his face and ears. His eyes had turned into a jackal's, and he stared at Reston as he would wounded prey. "Are you still alive?" he asked.

It was a long pause before Reston moved again. He then pushed himself onto his hands, his eyes clouded with blood. Reaching out, he took his Image's hand and pulled himself back onto his feet, the inside of his oxygen mask coated with red film. In a slow, deliberate movement, he shut off the tank, removed the mask, and threw the rig to one side, leaving it among the dried grass. "Will not need it," he said.

Shaking his head, Chad let out a rumble before saying, "Just get your turn over with, old man."

"Insult? Not like you." The Pillar of Death held up his one card before sliding it into his Magic/Trap Zones. "Set this facedown. End turn. Card of Demise effect meaningless, as hand empty." The last candle blew out, and then all five candles just disappeared.

The tall man snorted, drawing his next card. He showed it to the purple clouds of the Crush Card; it was Blessings of the Hunted, and so they moved away. He then pointed to his Gyaku-Gire Panda, saying, "Your Ekibyo Drakmord will now kill my panda. Good riddance; it wasn't much help by now."

Fighting its convulsions, the rabid panda slowly turned its head, looking back at Chad in disbelief. It then seized up, its head jerked to one side, and it fell onto its side, its body bloating as the disease overwhelmed it. One last breath left its lungs, and it shattered.

One of Reston's arms came up, wiped the blood off of his lips, and stretched out to his side. A card appeared in his hand, and he explained, "Ekibyo Drakmord returned to hand by own effect. Now chain to it with facedown card." He swept the card out, pointing at his Trap, which flipped up to reveal a frightened woman on its artwork. "Activate Sixth Sense. Name two numbers and roll die. If named number rolled, draw cards equal to number. If not, lose cards equal to roll. Name four and six."

"I know how the card works, you old bastard," Chad said with a scowl. "I saw one of the Darkness Infected use it."

"Oh. Did not know."

The air between them turned purple, and a single die fell from within it. The die bounced one, twice, thrice... and landed with the four showing. Reston's hand moved in a smooth glide over his deck, and he pulled four cards, fanning his hand.

All Chad could do was groan, "Lucky son of a bitch." Behind him, Gazelle growled, and he smiled, raising his head as the red energy surrounded him. His Life Points moved back up to 1,600, and he wasted no time in flipping his facedown monster over. "I switch Magician of Faith into Attack Mode, and use her effect to retrieve Pot of Greed from my Graveyard."

A young woman in a purple tunic appeared on Chad's field, dusting off the knees of her red stockings as she stood up. She had light violet hair in a long ponytail, tied with a black ribbon, and was carrying a crescent-headed staff in one hand. (300/400) Raising the staff, she yelled a single word of power.

The field shook, and several small fissures opened up, spitting out pieces of a smashed green pot. These pieces flew together, fusing into a single large pot with an all-too-familiar grin. It winked out of existence, and then appeared in Chad's hand as its card self.

"I'll hold onto this for now," Chad said, his voice seeming to lighten in pitch as he took out another card. "Instead, I'll play Blessings of the Hunted - since I have more than five Beasts and Beast-Warriors in my Graveyard, I can gain 2,500 Life Points!"

A number of bandaged Scapegoats appeared around him, and they all nuzzled against his legs. Whether it was that feeling or the effect of his Life Points rising to 4,100 that did it, something caused his expression to crack, and he staggered for a moment. A few blinks later, his eyes were back to normal.

_When injured, turns into savage,_ Reston noted. _When healed or damaged as savage, turns normal. Same man or different mind?_

Shaking his head, Chad muttered, "Ugh... Magician of Faith, direct attack with Holy Crescent..."

The mage spun her staff in her hand, took a fancy pose, and whipped it out before herself. A wave of energy burned across the field and slammed into the Pillar of Death, causing him to rock on his heels, although he did not show pain. His Life Points now sat at 1,700.

As Chad waved for Reston to take his turn, he noted, "It just hit me - this turn, Dark Snake Syndrome will deal 3,600 points of damage. I'll survive, but you won't. What do you say to that?"

"Emergency Provisions," Reston replied as he drew his card. The facedown card next to his Dark Snake Syndrome flipped up, revealing it was indeed Emergency Provisions. The bizarre mouth turned, bit through the Dark Snake Syndrome, and vanished as Reston's Life Points became 2,700.

Since the first time he had stepped into the bestial part of his mind, Chad had found himself unable to silence it. But now, as the Dark Snake Syndrome's marks left his body, he gave a sigh of relief; the growls and snarls had quieted.

One of Reston's eyes twitched as he played another card from his hand, announcing, "Ekibyo Drakmord highly contagious. Spreads to Magician of Faith."

This time, the young spellcaster dropped her staff and grabbed her shoulders, shivering as the green rash broke out over her face and hands.

"Set monster in Defense Mode and card facedown," the Pillar of Death concluded, "and end turn there."

As Chad drew, the clouds of the Crush Card gathered tightly around him. To his frustration, he declared, "I drew Berserk Gorilla." The Crush Card burned at his hand like acid, and he winced, sliding the card into his Graveyard. And then Gazelle growled behind him, and the energy washed over him, raising his Life Points to 4,800.

While this went on, Reston just switched his cards around, waiting.

"I know one of the Crush Card's weaknesses," Chad continued once the energy faded. "It has no power over cards that I draw outside of my Draw Phase. So now I'll play Pot of Greed!"

The hologram appeared and chuckled. Chad paid it no mind as he drew his two cards, and then shouted, "And now you won't have the chance to make me watch the Magician of Faith die - I use the effect of Behemoth, King of All Animals, and bring it out for one sacrifice!"

The Pillar of Death seethed. _Ekibyo Drakmord only returns to hand by own effect,_ he thought. _Lost if equipped monster leaves field other ways._

The rashes on the Magician of Faith's hands and face disappeared in a fog of green fumes, and she stood up, smiling. She then shattered into a thousand pieces, and a large pink foot slammed into the ground. This foot was connected to a massive, horned beast, its body rippling with muscles and a purple mane running down its back. It roared, shaking the corrupted Tree Swing. (2,700/1,500 - 2,000/1,500)

"By its effect," Chad went on, "I return one Beast from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose Berserk Gorilla..." He took the card and tucked it into his hand. "And now, Behemoth, attack his facedown monster with Wild Monarch's Crash!"

Stomping forward, each footstep shaking the dead ground, the King of All Animals raised its foot. It paused a second, and then brought it down hard, crushing a pair of purple-linened mummies underfoot. (1,000/1,800) A cloud of purple smoke floated across the field and down Chad's lungs, and he burst into a loud, hacking cough, his ribs shaking as his Life Points fell to 4,300. And then the Dark Room of Nightmare zapped him, and the total became 4,000.

"Poison Mummy again," Reston said. His Image, Newdoria, then raised its hands and covered him in black, crackling energy. "Newdoria Image effect," he continued, "called Gift of Death. When monster on this field destroyed without Battle Damage, gain 500 Life Points." His Life Points rose to 3,200.

Catching his breath, Chad felt the bestial noises grow louder in his mind, and thought, _No... How much of myself will I lose if I give into them again? _"I end my turn."

The Pillar of Death drew, and then paused. After a moment, he noted, "Right. Dark Snake Syndrome gone." He then took a card from his hand and played it, saying, "Poison of the Old Man."

A table rose from the floor next to him, two vials on it. One was short and wide, and held a purple liquid; the other was tall and thin, and held a green chemical. Both were smoking.

"Must choose," Reston explained as he studied the bottles. "May either gain 1,200 Life Points, or do 800 damage to yours. Choose latter." He took the smaller bottle off the table, which then vanished, and whipped the bottle at Chad.

It shattered against the tall man's chest, and then he began to choke, the purple fumes closing his throat for a moment. His Life Points sank to 3,200 as he retched, fighting to get his breath back. And then the Dark Room of Nightmare hit him once again, leaving burn marks on his arms, and he went to 2,900 Life Points.

"Set monster in Defense Mode," Reston concluded, "and turn ends."

For the third and last time, the clouds of the Crush Card gathered around Chad. He raised his head, and for a moment his eyes flickered to that of a snake before he shut them and shook it off. He then stood up, spitting, and drew a card, declaring, "I drew Monster Reborn!" The Crush Card's clouds vanished into wisps of smoke.

Waving his hand, Reston announced, "Activate Life Shaver. For each turn facedown, cuts one card from your hand. Set it six turns ago, so will destroy all cards."

Chad turned pale, watching as a small, sharp razor blade fell from the sky. It cut into his hand, causing him to shout in pain, but more importantly it cleaved all his cards in half. This was just an illusion, but he still had to fold and discard his hand. As always, though, Gazelle then growled, and energy covered him, healing the cut on his hand as he went up to 3,600 Life Points.

_I only have one option,_ the artist thought. "Behemoth, attack his facedown monster!"

"Activate Widespread Ruin," Reston countered. "Destroys monster with highest Attack Points you control. Only one choice."

The King of All Animals stopped, its pink skin beginning to ripple. It then let out a tiny whimper... and exploded, throwing chunks of bone and muscle all over the field. A moment later, it began to rain blood, splattering both Chad and Reston with sticky, salty liquids.

Frowning, Chad muttered, "End turn, then."

Drawing once more, Reston slid the card into his Duel Disk and announced, "Pot of Greed." He ignored the hologram, drawing twice, and then said, "Now may perform deck's key combo. Summon Giant Germ in Attack Mode."

The name was an apt description of the monster. It floated in front of its player, a large, purple spore surrounding several pockets of purple ooze. (1,000/100)

"Now play Lytic Cycle," Reston continued, sliding the card into a Magic/Trap zone. It appeared on his field, showing the picture of a Giant Germ exploding.

A forgotten fact triggered in Chad's mind, and he muttered, "Lytic... Lyse... I know that from high-school biology. When viruses invade a cell, they sometimes reproduce until it can't hold them anymore. And then the cell 'lyses', or bursts, sending more viruses out to continue the process..."

"Lytic Cycle reflection of the process," the Pillar of Death replied. "Pay 500 Life Points to destroy monster on field. In exchange, draw card. May do this until turn ends. Most important part - monsters destroyed count as dying in battle." He let that sink in for a moment.

Chad's eyes widened, and he thought, _That means he can hit me with Giant Germ's effect without any risk - his Image effect will make up the cost every time he uses it, and on top of that he draws a card each time he takes away 800 of my Life Points!_

Reston paused a moment, feeling his Image set its hands on his shoulders, and then said, "Begin process. Lytic Cycle on Giant Germ." His Life Points lowered to 2,700, and then black energy spread from Newdoria's hands and brought it back up to 3,200.

The germ quivered, stress fractures appearing on its front and sides. Soon the spore cracked open, and then the germ itself exploded, sending out a cloud of purple disease-laden smoke. This drifted over Chad, and he gagged as it choked him, his skin tightening as his Life Points became 3,100. The Dark Room of Nightmare chipped in with its lightning, leaving him at 2,800 Life Points.

"Giant Germ first effect deals 500 Life Points," the Pillar of Death said - without much need, as both knew that. "Second effect Special Summons other two from deck in Attack Mode."

Two more spores floated next to the shattering remains of the first, bobbing in the air before Reston. (1,000/100 x2)

Drawing a card as per Lytic Cycle's effect, Reston continued, "Now sacrifice both Giant Germs to effect of Lytic Cycle."

Both of the spores began to shake, the cracks and fractures covering their surfaces. They then burst open, a double dose of the fog covering Chad. His hair stood on end as his entire body tightened, blood dripping from his nose as his lips pulled back in a rictus grin. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a living corpse for a moment as the germs ran through his system. Between their combined effects and two blasts from the Dark Room of Nightmare, his Life Points plunged to 1,200.

After adding another two cards to his hand, Reston played another, saying, "Play Symbol of Heritage. If three monsters of same name in Graveyard, may pay 800 Life Points to summon one to field. Bring back Giant Germ."

Reston's Life Points settled down to 2,400, and a strange variant on the "stylized ankh" of Monster Reborn appeared on the field, three gems in its centerpiece. It shone for a moment, and then another Giant Germ rose into being, hovering in front of the Pillar of Death. (1,000/100)

Chad frowned at seeing that last Giant Germ, thinking, _If he has any more ways to damage me in his hand, this duel will end on this turn._ He could hear the roaring and howling in his mind, beckoning him to abandon himself to it, and threw his willpower against it, trying to pen it back.

"Lytic Cycle effect once more," the Pillar of Death said, his Life Points falling to 1,900... until Newdoria covered his body with the black energy yet again, keeping his Life Points at 2,400.

Again the Giant Germ shook and convulsed, and then exploded into a cloud of plague and germs. It flew over Chad, and this time he was beyond the pain, even as his body adopted the corpse's shriveling yet again. Blood dripped from his mouth as his Life Points bottomed to 700, and then to 400 when the Dark Room of Nightmare gave him one final blast.

"Set card facedown," Reston said, "and end turn. Draw."

The artist swayed where he stood for a moment, his body replenishing itself and shaking off the enforced rigor mortis. He then raised his head, and his eyes briefly set Reston on edge - they were now the dead, empty black eyes of a shark. He wiped the blood from his mouth and drew a card, Gazelle roaring behind him...

Reston merely waved to his activating trap. "Bad Reaction to Simotchi," he explained. "Turns healing into Life Point loss. Even applies to Image effects. Duel over."

Chad's eyes turned human as it sunk in, and he dropped his card, watching it flutter to the ground. It landed face-up, a Wild Nature's Release.

And then Gazelle bit into his shoulder, the energy turned blood-red, and it was as though his soul were infected. The artist cried out in pure agony, Gazelle's effect causing his body to jerk and spasm as it ripped through his cells. His eyes themselves began to bleed, dripping like red tears on his clothing, and he arched backwards as his Life Points struck zero.

The Tree Swing and its hanging corpses vanished, and the field beneath the feet of both duelists faded away. Reston shook his arm, his Duel Disk turning to smoke, and strode up to Chad with his hands behind him. "Gave into the beast," he said. "First mistake."

Even as the Darkness Infection rose through him, Chad could hear the words. He swallowed, grunting, "You knew?"

"Could sense it in your actions. Its power great, but not enough. Foolish enough to succumb to it. Not enough to win."

The tall man felt his legs buckle, and dropped onto his hands and knees, breathing hard. _I... I have no idea how much of myself I may have lost... and it still wasn't enough..._

The Pillar of Death laid his hand on Chad's head. "You go bye-bye."

In a rush of pure torture, the Darkness Infection burst through Chad Montmelier, and the entire world became a single pinpoint... which blinked out.

**0000000**

"Laura fell," Degas noted as the duel ended. "Sol fell. Now Chad is down. That leaves just Gerald to finish out the set. Perhaps we were being overcautious when we chose to hold the Pillar of Death in reserve... had we sent him out first, we could have wiped out Gerald and his friends without any trouble."

Alexander narrowed his eyes, a look of utter concern on his face. "We had good reasons for worrying. And lest we forget, he still has to duel Gerald before we can declare victory. That will be the determining factor."

"You have a point, Alexander... Still, two out of three is two better than any of the other Pillars can claim."

The man in green sighed, leaning against his armrest as the mirrors changed their picture. He then asked, "When will we send Hanzaki to take care of our... errand?"

"Once he returns with your girlfriend," Degas replied. "By the way, why is she taking so long?"

"I haven't a clue... and I would not not to spoil her fun by spying on her," Alexander said.

The man in black rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. "This is part of why I keep to myself."

**0000000**

Gerald watched as the orb of darkness swirled into nothing but a black fog. This soon cleared, revealing the Pillar of Death and Chad. As Gerald had both feared and expected, his friend was unconscious on the ground, his body marked with the Darkness Infection.

Reston bent over Chad, adjusting his body into the recovery position, and then straightened up. He blinked, and then knelt beside the defeated young man, retrieving a discarded oxygen tank and hooking it to his waist before standing again.

The Chosen of the Light and the Pillar of Death stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Both looked directly into each other's eyes, but neither looked away or flinched. In the end, Gerald raised his arm, reached up, and activated his Duel Disk. The tray swung out and locked into position.

With a hiss of breath, Reston shook his head. "Not here," he said. "Great Lakes Ballroom. Go there when ready." Three booming sounds and three rings of black energy spread out from his feet, and he vanished.

After uttering a curse under his breath, Gerald took a few deep breaths, shut off his Duel Disk, and headed into Camp Snoopy, briefly nodding to his comatose friend. His footsteps led him to the west.

**0000000**

Elsewhere in the Twin Cities, in front of a small antique shop, a man clad from head to toe in Lycra sat on the ground, drumming his fingers. Hanzaki had arrived here an hour ago, and somehow his passenger had yet to emerge. And this was after spending a half-hour at Midway Books, from which she had emerged empty-handed.

_The clerks are all down and out,_ Hanzaki thought, _what could take you so long? Oh, this was most definitely_ not _in my job description..._

As he thought that, the most beautiful sound in the world came to his ear: the sound of the bell over the shop's door ringing. Bethany stepped out next to him, wearing a modest blue dress, and he pushed himself back to his feet. "Find anything?" he said in a voice that mostly concealed his boredom.

The girl nodded, carefully holding up her find. It was a statue, carved from gray stone, that showed three frogs gathered in a half-circle around a larger frog. "Do you think he'll like it?" she asked.

"I just work for him," the messenger replied. "I'm not his art critic."

Opening the bag she was carrying, Bethany set the statue back into it and frowned. "I hope he does... after all, last year I didn't get him anything."

"You two had yet to _meet_ last year..."

"That's not the point!" the former Pillar of Chaos snapped.

**LIFE SHAVER**  
Type: Normal Trap Card  
Image: An hourglass in midair, its bottom broken and the sand spilling into a waiting hand.  
Effect: For each Standby Phase that this card was facedown on your field before activation, your opponent discards one card from their hand.  
_Note: This card was used by Kaiba in the original series episode "Clash in the Coliseum, Part Three". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**LYTIC CYCLE**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A Giant Germ bursting apart from within.  
Effect: You may only play this card during your Main Phase 1. For the rest of this turn, you may destrpy monsters on your side of the field by paying 500 Life Points. Monsters destroyed this way are considered destroyed in battle. Each time you destroy a monster, you may draw a card. During your End Phase, remove this card from play.

**NEWDORIA**  
Image Effect: "Gift of Death" - If a monster you control is destroyed, and you do not receive Battle Damage from its destruction, you gain 500 Life Points.

_Coming next chapter: The Pillar of Death has overcome every opponent he has faced thus far. Now the only one left to confront him is Gerald Laxina himself. Without any knowledge of his opponent's strategy, armed only with the deck he has wielded against all comers, the Chosen of the Light must face the Darkness's champion... a man who has defeated both of his allies. Can Gerald overcome Reston's viral might? Find out in Chapter Twenty-Nine, "Epidemic"._


	30. Epidemic

_**Yesterday, the fourth Pillar of Darkness, the Pillar of Death, awoke. He gathered his power and set out to fight against the Light. And so far he has won.**_

_**He defeated Laura last night. He defeated Chad this morning. I'm almost certain he defeated Sol, although I have yet to see proof of that. Now I am the only one left to oppose him. I, Gerald Laxina, Chosen of the Light, am the last of the Light's servants to duel him.**_

_**If I win, the Mall of America and all the Darknes Infected within it will be freed, and the last of the Pillars will fall. If I lose, Laura, Chad, Sol, and I, along with the entire state of Minnesota and most likely the world, are finished, and the Balance will be tilted for good.**_

_**But Degas and Alexander did not take an important element into account when they made this plan. By targeting and infecting Laura, they have helped me come to one conclusion, one very simple goal for my battle with the Pillar of Death.**_

_**I am going to kill him.**_

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Epidemic**

Three booming noises and three circles of black energy spread from the ground in front of the Great Lakes Ballroom. Once the energy cleared, Reston dusted off his coat, adjusting the collar. He then reached into his pocket and fished out the vial of medication he kept on hand for when he started coughing blood.

He frowned, noting, "Running low. Will need more in near future." Dropping it back into his pocket, he put his oxygen mask back on, adjusted the valve, and strode into it.

The Great Lakes Ballroom was simply a large, enclosed area tucked into a southwestern corner of the Camp Snoopy area. It was one of those places you could reserve for major events, and as such had a certain blandness to its decor. In recent times, however, a group of believers had started renting it out on Sunday mornings for church sessions. Reston had struck before they could clear it out, and thus it still held the trappings of the River Church.

As he walked into the room, Reston scowled, dark energy crackling around his body. Shallow as it was, there was still traces of quiescient faith in some of the parishoners among the Darkness Infected, and it clashed badly with his nature as a Pillar. He kicked a young woman out of the way, heading to the back of the room, and then cracked his knuckles as he climbed onto the stage there.

"Could use change of decor," the Pillar of Death said to himself as he reached the back of the Ballroom. "Folding chairs out of place. Does not give correct appearance." He paused, picking up a discarded hymnal, and then tilted his head. "Idea."

He tossed the hymnal aside and interlaced his fingers, concentrating. A trace of wind started to whistle around him, and various pieces of paper spun across the floor. Soon black lightning danced around his body, sparking up his arms and over his fingers.

Reston held out his hands, fingers spread, and energy shot out to play over the room...

The door faded into shadow, and then vanished, replaced by a shimmering black portal.

**0000000**

After Lucifer had left the power room, he had run into Demetrius Lark, and the two began to walk together, under the agreement that Lucifer would stand back and let Demetrius do the work if they ran into the Pillar of Death. Walking in silence is not very captivating, however, and so the two began to converse. Demetrius soon described his duel with Mako, complete with a careful recap of what he had seen during his "trip".

"So... you have seen ze Lark family's future?" Lucifer asked.

Demetrius nodded. "I didn't get exact years out of what they showed me, but it looked like a hundred years or so, judging by how old everyone looked. I knew there was something special about me, but to establish a lasting legacy..." He grinned like a fool, tightening his grip on his cane.

Lucifer's expression went sour, and he shook a finger at his walking companion. "Do not let your enzusiasm get ze best of you, Monsieur Lark. Ze future is impossible to predict with perfect accuracy. Zis mainly comes down on your shoulders." He then looked almost sad as he continued, "In addition, what makes such zings as 'legacies' romantic is zat you do not see zeir ultimate fate. I do not have zat privilege."

It took a moment for Demetrius to catch on, and then he frowned. "Right. You're immortal."

"Which means zat I have seen my family members create zeir own 'legacies'. Zey rot zrough and fall apart after about two hundred years or so of living up to zem. Feel fortunate zat Duel Monsters will likely not last so long." The Beloved of Fire then adjusted one of his rings as he added, "And try to make your family famous for more zan just its dueling prowess."

The younger of the two (although he appeared older) tilted his hat. "Indeed. I'm already trying to do that - my family does our damnedest to cultivate true nobility in thought and deed. If nothing else, ours will the most dignified lineage that ever went under."

Lucifer could not resist a laugh, but Demetrius answered with one of his own, clearing any tension between them. This was fortunate, as moments later they encountered Chad Montmelier's unconscious form.

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander had briefly left their chairs, pacing around the mirror room in order to stretch their legs. The mirrors were all focused on the Great Lakes Ballroom but for one; the lone exception had locked onto Gerald Laxina and was showing his approach.

"I wonder if I'm being overly optimistic," Degas said as the two turned a corner. "When the Shadow Queen did battle with the Three Heroes, none of her minions ever scored a victory. She had to face one of them herself before finally defeating any of them. Of course, she was then dumb enough to duel the other two at once. I wonder how she likes demonic servitude..."

Alexander shook his head. "I cannot help but feel sorry for her, in a way. The Nameless Demons are, by and large, warped and disgusting."

"Indeed. But that's beside the point. The point is that Reston has already defeated three of Gerald's allies so far. That leaves Gerald as the strongest of the group... and if Reston defeats him, there are no duelists left in Minnesota who are strong enough in the Light to confront him." The Hand of Darkness pursed his hands before him, turning another corner. "We simply need to mop up Gerald's remaining allies and the state is ours. And then we can expand..."

"Let's not count the chickens just yet," the Dark Conduit replied, looking annoyed. "We did that when Jean-Vic dueled Gerald, remember? Your cuts may have healed, but don't lose the memory to go with them."

With a snort, Degas admitted, "You have a point. That overconfidence is part of what defeated the Shadow Queen..."

The door to the mirror room opened, and Hanzaki stepped out, hands behind his back. "Reporting in," he said, nodding his head.

Slowing to a stop, his employers nodded to him. "Rest for now," Alexander ordered. "We will have another assignment for you in a minute. And send Bethany in, will you?"

The messenger bowed before stepping out, and both men returned to their chairs. A moment later, Bethany walked in and stood by Alexander, watching the mirrors. She gave a little shudder.

"Gerald is almost there," Degas noted. "The show is about to start. Care to join us, Bethany?"

After a moment, the girl replied, a slight shudder in her voice, "All right..."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Alexander asked at that point, frowning.

His girlfriend gave him a nod, and then settled on his lap, curling against him. As his arm slid around her, she smiled and whispered into his ear, "I got you a present. Did you think I would forget?"

The man in green blinked, and then smiled despite himself, whispering back, "I almost forgot myself."

"Happy birthday," Bethany said, kissing his cheek before turning back to the mirrors.

**0000000**

Quiet footsteps echoed through the empty, silent space of Camp Snoopy as Gerald Laxina walked along the path, his shoes thudding down in constant rhythm as he walked along. His deck was in his hands, and he sorted through his cards, making sure he was ready.

_I've used this deck since I arrived here,_ he thought to himself, _and so far I have yet to suffer any major disasters. Of course, my duels up to this point were against opponents who hadn't proven they were truly dangerous... _He straightened the cards and returned them to the deck slot of his Duel Disk. _I will keep my trust in them. And may the Light give me strength._

With that, he passed the last of the stands in the park's food court, and the Great Lakes Ballroom appeared before him. Over the room's sign, a half-torn banner read "The River Church". And where the door should have stood there was instead a rectangular portal of pure darkness.

The now-familiar feeling of purest dread flowed over Gerald. His stomach roiled, and he could taste bile in his mouth as he began to sweat. Drawing on his reserves of calm, he slowly walked forward and stepped through the portal, wiping off his forehead.

On the other side, the lazy young man's foot set down on a cracked marble floor. On either side of him stood crumbling walls of stone, time and the elements having ground away their surfaces and cracked them to the center. Vines had overrun some of them, eroding further at them... all but for the wall at the very back. This wall stood proudly, untouched by the elements, even though the walls on either side of it were broken and pitted.

Overhead, a setting sun gave a sickly light to the entire affair, and cast colorful shadows through the stained glass windows on the back wall. There were three of them, in a low arc near its top. The one in the center depicted a massively tall man, entire body wrapped in a black cloak but for two thin, bony hands, which held the haft of a giant scythe, its edge rendered in almost transparently blue glass. On the left window stood a gaunt, bald figure, twisted and wracked by some sort of disease - it could be described as Helpoemer without the bindings. On the right window was a man made of blades, holding a severed head in his hand and carrying a bloodstained sword. Not to Gerald's surprise, the severed head was his own.

The Pillar of Death sat on the ground underneath the center window, leaning against the wall with his eyes shut. As he opened them, a bell rang from somewhere overhead. Gerald craned his neck up, and then turned around. Behind them, in a tower attached to the wall he'd passed through, there was a great iron bell. It rang eight times - four notes descending, and then the same four notes ascending. He had heard them before; they were the call to worship.

Turning back to the Pillar of Death, Gerald said, "Interesting choice of decor. When I dueled Jean-Vic, we stood atop the Cathedral of St. Paul. The Darkness likes desecrating churches..."

"Symbol of the Light," the sick man said as he pulled himself to his feet, using the wall as support. His legs shook for a moment, and then he adjusted the oxygen tank on his waist. "Gerald Laxina..."

Nodding, Gerald replied, "Reston. That was the town in West Virgina where a laboratory full of monkeys died from a strain of Ebola. But that strain can't affect humans... why didn't you call yourself Marburg or Lassa?"

One of Reston's eyebrows rose, and he muttered, "Know diseases... Matter of style. Other diseases too close to other names. Care to know real name?"

"I have no reason to." Raising his Duel Disk, Gerald activated it, narrowing his eyes. "You defeated my friends. They're all suffering because you decided to pick them off before you came after me. Was that necessary?"

Raising his arms, Reston crossed them over his head. Dark energy channeled through him as he said, "Saved time. Would duel you in turn. By defeating others first, no need to hunt them afterward. Knew you would demand duel after doing so." The pale Duel Disk came into being on his left arm, and he activated it.

As he readied himself, Gerald looked into the Pillar of Death's eyes. He saw the lack of humanity in them, and gritted his teeth, withstanding it. "I want to adjust the stakes before we begin. If I lose, I will become a Darkness Infected. But if I win, your life ends."

The Pillar of Death widened his eyes, even as he put on his oxygen mask and adjusted the valve. "Surprise. No value in human life?"

"You don't seem to value it yourself," the younger man replied. "So... do we have a deal?"

"Dying anyway. If defeated, would cease to be Pillar. Would suffer full ravages of Feinglory's Systemic Circulatory Deterioration... would die anyway. Stakes actually the same." He nodded. "Accepted."

Both men drew their opening hands, and the symbol of the Dark Duel drew itself around their feet. The church bell tolled once more, and both Life Point counters set themselves to 8,000.

**0000000**

On an island somewhere, the ages-old man known as Merlee looked up from a salad he was midway through eating, frowning. "Powerful Light and powerful Darkness are preparing to clash," he mused. "This is necessary, but... the amount of energy that will create will have its conseqences. I can only hope they aren't dire..."

**0000000**

Ulysses Cantrell had never saw the need for a car. He preferred his bicycle, thinking it better for both the environment and for his health. As he neared seventy years old, the latter became an ever-more pressing concern.

But midway to the Mall of America, he had to dig his feet into the ground, throwing up gravel as he came to a hard stop. Taking a few deep breaths, he shook his head. "Gerald is taking a mighty risk," he muttered. "Light be with him, he can't afford to lose..."

**0000000**

By the time Lucifer and Demetrius got to the Great Lakes Ballroom, the portal had vanished, and the doors were shut. Demetrius grabbed the handle and twisted it, but the door was locked, and all that he got were low clicking noises. "Blast," he muttered. "What now?"

Crossing his arms, Lucifer shook his head. "We wish Monsieur Laxina all ze fortune we can. Zat, I am afraid, is all eizer of us _can_ do."

**0000000**

As he fanned his opening hand, Gerald frowned, murmuring, "You may begin."

"Planned on it." Pulling the top card from his deck, Reston glanced at it, and then thought, _Move careful. Deck adjusted for success against Chosen, but overconfidence lethal._ "Summon Acid Slime," he finally decided aloud.

A swirling blue puddle appeared on Reston's field, slowly beginning to congeal. It turned into a thick, blue gel, which rose up from its puddle state into a rounded-off X form. A red core appeared in the center, and it rose up on two of its ends, waving its top about. (800/1,000)

The Pillar of Death then noted, "Set two cards facedown and end turn."

As he drew, Gerald murmured, "Never seen that one before." He paused, turned an eye to the other cards in his hand, and then slowly took one and slid it into his Duel Disk. "I set this card facedown..." It appeared as he said so. "And then I'll summon... Cyber Tutu, in Attack Mode." Hesitation rang in his voice.

The air turned pink for a moment, hearts bubbling everywhere, and then a little girl in a red-and-white ballerina's outfit spun into being. She wore a visor over her eyes, and her hair was a light pink. She giggled for a moment... until the Pillar of Death looked at her, whereupon she cringed, curling up towards Gerald. (1,000/800)

With a snap of his fingers, Gerald pointed at Reston's monster, ordering, "Cyber Tutu, attack his Acid Slime with Fouette Strike. Do not let him scare you into submission."

It took the girl a few moments to get herself back together, and then she nodded. One of her legs rose up, and she flexed it a few times before gliding towards the slime with a muted grace. Springing off of her toe, she spun in midair, bringing her foot down hard and splattering the slime every which way. She then let out a cry of disgust, shaking bits of the gel off of her slipper.

Reston's Life Points went down to 7,800, but he explained, "Acid Slime effect deals 1,000 damage on destruction." And as he said so, a large chunk of the slime hit Gerald's neck, searing his skin and forcing his fists to clench as it ate away at him. He flicked it off of his shoulder, his Life Points down to 7,000.

Her job done, the Cyber Tutu glided back to Gerald's side and stamped her foot a few times to shake off any lingering slime, as her master declared, "My turn ends."

Those dead eyes shut, and the Pillar of Death took his next card, flicking two between his fingers and sliding them into his Duel Disk. "Monster in Defense Mode and card facedown. End turn." The concealed holograms flashed into being without any fanfare.

On his next draw, Gerald shut his eyes, turning his thoughts to the facedown cards. _While setting a monster does prevent me from using Cyber Tutu's effect,_ he thought, _Reston has to know that my strategy does not care about that. Something larger is in the works._ "I set a card facedown," he then said as he did so, "and summon..." He paused again, hand moving between his cards, and then chose. "...Inaba White Rabbit in Attack Mode."

The air in front of Gerald blurred, much like it did when Hanzaki teleported, and a small white rabbit faded into view, standing next to a carved antique. Its ears twitched, as did its nose. Reston looked at it and it panicked, hiding behind its base. (700/500)

"Stay calm, my rabbit," Gerald said, raising an eyebrow. "Attack him directly and you may feel better."

The base came to life, energy traveling up its center, and then the Inaba White Rabbit vanished, becoming a small ball. It zoomed up to Reston, and the rabbit emerged, both hind feet striking squarely in his chest. The Pillar of Death did not even move as the attack landed, just standing stock-still. His Life Points still went down to 7,100.

_They never seem to react anymore,_ Gerald thought as he took a card off of his Duel Disk. "I end my turn, returning Inaba White Rabbit to my hand by its effect." Once again the air blurred, and both rabbit and base vanished.

Before Reston could draw his next card, he spasmed, clutching his chest. Sweat poured down his face, and he adjusted the valve on his oxygen mask again. He then blinked, muttering aloud, "Odd. Heart skipped beat. Not a usual symptom." Drawing his card, he held it up for Gerald's view.

Leaning forward, Gerald read its name, and then put his hand to his forehead. "That card? In a Dark Duel? Oh, my."

"Indeed," Reston said as he played it. "Did not expect to draw it so early. Card overwhelmed last opponents. Activate Dark Snake Syndrome."

A low hissing filled the air, and Gerald broke out sweat, sinking to one knee as feelings of weakness ran roughshod through his body. Again, bile splashed on his tongue as his stomach turned over, and he set a hand on the ground, shaking for a moment. Once it was done, he stood up, seeing the black marks on both himself and his opponent.

"Familiar with effect?" the Pillar of Death asked as he took another card from his hand.

Gerald just nodded, eyes narrow. "That card does greater and greater amounts of damage, doubling every turn, until either one of us is beaten or the card itself is destroyed. I've had to deal with it before."

"Good. Previous opponents seemed not to know. Annoying." Placing his other chosen card on the Duel Disk, Reston said, "Set monster in Defense Mode and end turn."

Two fingers took the next card from Gerald's deck, and he muttered, "I thank you not to talk of my friends that way. Either way, I play Banner of Courage, which will grant my monsters 200 Attack Points."

The sky overhead split, and a large steel pole smashed into the ruined temple's floor, throwing chunks of marble everywhere. A large banner with a simple design unfurled from the pole, fluttering in the breeze of the artificial evening. The Cyber Tutu smiled and straightened up, adjusting her visor. (1,000/800 - 1,200/800)

"Next," Gerald continued, taking another card up - the one he had considered using previously - and playing it, "I will summon my Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

A hole opened in the floor, and the prototype machine sprang up, parts clanking noisily. One fist went up to polish the large numeral 7 on its shoulder. (500/400) The Banner of Courage fluttered, and its eyes lit up. (500/400 - 700/400)

The Pillar of Death looked at it, as he had both of Gerald's previous monsters, but as machines feel no fear, it just looked back. He then hissed and turned his attention back to his field.

"Jinzo #7," the lazy young man said as he stretched, "attack Reston directly with Cyber Glitch."

Parts of the machine whirred within it, and it raised one arm, gathering a ball of energy on its palm.

Reston saw this and waved to one of his facedown cards, saying, "Counter with Nightmare Wheel. Capture Jinzo #7 and hold it captive, preventing attack."

The hideous Catherine wheel lowered down from the sky, slowly spinning as it lowered. Two chains whipped out from its sides, and it caught hold of the machine, yanking it onto its surface. The chains locked into place and tightened, pressing it hard against the spikes.

With a shrug, Gerald said, "I will end my turn if that is the case."

Reston drew, and then crossed his arms, saying, "Dark Snake Syndrome activate."

But to his surprise, Gerald did not react as much as either of his friends had. Sweat rolled down his forehead, and his hands twitched, but he stood there without overt flinching, blinking a few times in apparent boredom. His Life Points fell to 6,800, and Reston's went to 6,900.

After a moment, the Pillar of Death asked, "No apparent pain. Why?"

"When I was ten years old, I suffered an ear infection," Gerald said. "The fluid build-up left me in so much pain that I spent hours alternating between screaming and uneasy, restless sleep. When I finally got to a doctor, the treatment involved puncturing my eardrum. Jacob Waterknot's Hell Meteor hurt worse than that, but I hesitate to say it was by much." He shrugged. "Compared to that, this level of pain is a stubbed toe."

As he finished his sentence, Gerald blinked and added, "Oh, I almost forgot." One of his facedown cards lifted up. "I activate Attack and Receive in response to taking damage, dealing you 700 Life Points worth of added damage."

An armored knight stepped into the ruined cathedral, greaves clanking on the floor. He briefly knelt, crossing himself with his sword, and then dashed forward with his weapon drawn back. The sword sliced into Reston's chest, tearing his shirt and making the sick man fall to his knees from the force, his Life Points down to 6,200.

There was a moment's pause for Reston to get back to his feet, adjusting his oxygen mask. He took a few breaths, adjusting his coat, and then reached down. "Flip Poison Mummy into Attack Mode," he muttered. "Effect deals 500 points of damage to opponent. Believe called 'tit for tat'."

The Pillar of Death's facedown monster turned over, revealing two human mummies - gaunt figures wrapped in rotting purple linen. Both let out quiet moans, raising their hands. (1,000/1,800) One then reached into its body, fingers grabbing hold of something concealed, and pulled itself open. A thick cloud of purple smoke rolled out from its interior, washing over Gerald and causing him to choke for a moment as his Life Points dropped to 6,300.

"Next play Pot of Greed..." Reston ignored the hologram, as did almost all players, and drew two more cards. "And then play Germ Infection on Cyber Tutu."

The little ballerina staggered for a moment, eyes going dull. She gave Gerald a confused look, and then coughed, holding a fist in front of her mouth.

"What are you doing to her?" Gerald asked, eyes narrowing.

The Pillar of Death shook his head. "No worry. Germ Infection: bacterial disease similiar to the common cold, caused by the organism Bacilius Shadorius. Symptoms include coughing, runny nose, irritated eyes, and feelings of fatigue. Not lethal, but gradually weakens the victim. In game terms, reduces target's Attack Points by 300 each turn on Standby Phase." He studied his hand and concluded, "End turn."

It was only after Gerald drew his next card that he remembered something important. He turned to face the Nightmare Wheel just as it began turning, its spikes grinding into the outer surface of the Jinzo #7. A red light shot down on him, and his Life Points lowered to 5,800... but again, he showed little sign of any damage.

Reston sighed through his oxygen mask. "Right. Machine. Feel no pain. No pain to transfer."

"Exactly," Gerald said. He then heard a low hacking and spun back to his other monster. The Cyber Tutu was doubled over, coughing hard and shallow as the Germ Infection flared up. She wiped off her face with a handkerchief, taken from nowhere, and then groaned as her Attack Points sank to 900.

_If it wasn't for his other facedown monster, I could attack directly with Cyber Tutu,_ the younger man thought as he studied his hand. _But... I see what got Chad and Laura in so much trouble. About a quarter of the average deck is devoted to protecting yourself from monsters. Such protection is useless against Reston, because he will never set it off. That makes much of my deck dead draws..._

Tapping his foot, the Pillar of Death said quietly, "Knew man like you once. Spent life working at desk. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer... terminal stage. Made interesting experiment - disabled waste removal systems to see how long toxins took to kill him. About a week."

Looking up from his cards, Gerald glared at his opponent, taking a card from his hand. _Thank you, Reston, _he thought. _I just remembered why I arranged to have your death be the stakes._ "I set this facedown..." A facedown card appeared before him.

"Activate Dust Tornado," Reston replied. "Destroys facedown card."

A chill wind blew through the ruined cathedral, blowing leaves past the stained glass at its back. The leaves began to spin around both duelists, tightening their pattern into a low funnel. This funnel reached out and touched Gerald's newest facedown card, ripping it - a Spell Shield Type-8 - to small pieces, and then throwing the pieces into the distance.

"Hum," Gerald said under his breath. More audibly, he declared, "I now summon Inaba White Rabbit again."

The teleporter arrived on his field for a second time, a small white rabbit standing underneath it. (700/500) The Banner of Courage waved proudly, and the rabbit's ears twitched. (700/500 - 900/500)

"Direct attack," the rabbit's controller said, and it did so, turning into a ball of white light, flying up to Reston, and kicking him square in the chest. The Pillar of Death raised one hand dismissively as his Life Points lowered to 5,300.

With nothing else to do, Gerald waved to signal his turn's conclusion, and the Inaba White Rabbit vanished as it returned to his hand.

It was Reston's turn again, and he drew, watching Gerald closely. The Dark Snake Syndrome activated again, and the Pillar of Death's vision blurred red as the symptoms kicked in. Deep inside his mind, he reminded himself that the disease was tearing his cells open and flooding his bloodstream with further poisons; however, without the pain to back that up, he had trouble believing it.

The Chosen of the Light, meanwhile, crossed his arms and shut his eyes as Reston watched him. For a brief second, one of his knees buckled, but he shifted his weight to the other foot and stood again, exhaling with a shudder. His fingers twitched, and he began to sweat again. And that was all the sign there was that he felt any more pain than Reston did.

_Impressive willpower,_ the Pillar of Death thought as his Life Points dropped to 4,900 and Gerald's lowered to 5,400. _Takes great strength of mind to withstand Dark Snake Syndrome without yielding. Futile. _He took his latest draw and played it. "Play Mystik Wok on Poison Mummy. Sacrifice for Life Point gain equal to either score. Choose Defense."

A single, tremendous iron vessel rose from beneath the floor of the ruins. Reston raised his hand, and the two mummies vanished, reappearing in its center. A steel fork and spoon, as large as the wok, appeared on either side, and the utensils went to work, breaking the undead into pieces and stir-frying them. After a moment, Reston shut off his oxygen tank, removed the mask, and opened his mouth. A stream of energy flowed into his mouth from out of the wok, and his Life Points rose to 6,700.

Even as he turned pale, the lazy young man opposing Reston asked, "How... does that taste?"

"Like overcooked tilapia," the sick man answered. He put his oxygen mask back on, took his hand, and placed two cards from it on the Duel Disk. "Set monster in Defense and card facedown. End turn."

Gerald drew, and over his head the Nightmare Wheel clanked again, turning as it drove its spikes through his Jinzo #7's circuitry. He merely closed his eyes as the red light fell directly on them, his Life Points lowering to 4,900. In front of him, the Cyber Tutu coughed further, sinking to her knees as the Germ Infection ravaged her body. Tears fell from the little ballerina's eyes as her Attack Points lowered to 600.

"Be strong, you two," Gerald told his monsters, taking a card from his hand. "I won't let you suffer further. I summon my Amazon Archer in Attack Mode."

There was a rustling noise, and then a young woman landed on the cathedral's floor, her landing softened by a pair of leather shoes. Her clothes were primitively stitched, and she wore a quiver of arrows over one shoulder, a bow held over the other arm. Taking her weapon off her shoulder, she stroked back her short hair, glaring at Reston. His return glare didn't shake her. (1,400/1,000) The Banner of Courage fluttered again, and she smiled. (1,400/1,000 - 1,600/1,000)

"Now," Gerald continued, taking two cards from his Duel Disk, "I will sacrifice my Cyber Tutu and Jinzo #7 in order to activate Amazon Archer's effect, taking off 1,200 of your Life Points. More importantly, it will end their pain." He turned to the archer. "Go for the heart - use your Wild Arrow."

The little ballerina and the robot looked at their controller, and then the former sighed in relief. Both melted away and turned into light, which flew into the Amazon Archer's outstretched hand and formed an arrow of pure energy. This she nocked to her bow and drew back, shutting one eye. She then let go, and the arrow shot out, striking Reston directly in the chest. The Pillar of Death merely reached down and yanked the arrow out, his Life Points down to 5,700.

The younger man nodded, noting, "Good marksmanship. Now, take out his facedown monster with Savage Arrow."

Picking a normal arrow out of her quiver, the Amazon Archer nocked this one as well and fired it at Reston's facedown monster. The arrow flew... and struck bare marble, shattering. With a blink, the archer looked around, not sure where her target had gone to.

That question was answered when a large brown creature, with a long body and a single red eye, flew down from the ceiling and wrapped around her body. She struggled for a moment, and then the end of the creature moved up to her. It split, revealing a four-pronged "hand", which dug into her chest. A small amount of blood leaked out, and the Amazon Archer gasped... and then her eyes turned glassy, and her arms fell to her side.

With a wave of his hand, Reston explained, "Kisetai. When attacked while facedown, attaches to attacking monster. Kisetai: scientific name Parasite Spiritisangui. Drains life energy from host and stores in eye, which then transfers to controller. In game terms, heals Life Points by half of equipping monster Attack Score during opponent Standby Phase."

Given no other choice, Gerald scowled and replied, "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The Pillar of Death drew his next card, and then paused. Both men stood as still as possible, letting the Dark Snake Syndrome run rampant over their bodies. Both of their eyes went bloodshot as the tiny blood vessels under the surface leaked, and they both tightened their fists as the last burst of pain ran through them, sending Gerald's Life Points to 4,100 and Reston's to 4,900.

Shutting his eyes, Gerald rubbed them, groaning. His eyes opened again, and he held one hand out, announcing, "I activate my second Attack and Receive. This will deal you 1,000 points of damage, since there's another one in my Graveyard."

Two armored knights walked out of the card this time, as opposed to just one the first time. They crossed their blades, bowed their heads, and then charged Reston. In surprise, he threw his arms over his head to protect himself, which resulted in the swords slicing into his arms and throwing him down. His Life Points lowered further, to 3,900, and he groaned as the knights vanished.

As he swayed on his feet, the Pillar of Death took a longer drag from his oxygen tank, and then blinked. He reached down, pulled the tank off of his belt and raised it to his eyes, looking it over. He then shut off the valve and took off his facemask. "Tank empty," he muttered. "Need new one." Tossing it over his shoulder, whereupon it clanked noisily on hitting the floor, Reston declared, **_"Image awaken."_**

Thick black smoke rolled out of Reston's back, mixing behind him. He opened his mouth and exhaled, more smoke pouring from it, and held up his hands as they unleashed smoke. All of the different sources formed one massive cloud behind him, which took the form of a thin, wretched man, one with orange skin and green hair. It wore a leather tunic and black pants, and its eyes were hidden by a thin leather ring. The Image stood behind Reston, arms crossing.

"Newdoria," Gerald noted. "A sadistic being that kills for fun and ultimately even kills the one who killed it. I presume your prison sentence was for murder."

"Yes," Reston said. "Was the Wandering Hospital Reaper. Took such joy in ending lives... but no need to rehash history. Continue turn with Card of Demise, drawing five cards but discarding hand in five turns." Five candles sprang up around Reston, and he pulled the top five cards from his deck, fanning them. "Now set monster in Defense Mode and activate facedown Poison of the Old Man."

A table sprang up in front of Reston, and on it appeared two potion bottles. One was small and round, holding purple liquid, and one was tall and thin with a green liquid inside of it.

Gerald said, "I know this card. One bottle heals your Life Points by 1,200, while the other will reduce my Life Points by 800. Which will you pick?"

In response, Reston held up his arms, which were still bleeding from the cuts inflicted by the Attack and Receive. He took the thin bottle of green liquid, bit into the cork, and pulled it out before drinking down the contents. His wounds slowly closed, leaving only bruising in their wake, and his Life Points rose to 5,100. He then tossed the bottle away, the table disappeared, and he said, "End turn." One candle went out.

Gerald then drew, but as he did so the Kisetai began to shiver. As it did so, the Amazon Archer cried out, her body turning pale and her head lolling back. The leech's body grew thick, and it turned its red eye to the Pillar of Death. The eye bugged out, and a thin beam of red light fell on Reston's wounds. His bruises disappeared, and his Life Points rose to 5,900.

"You are only making it easier to kill you," the lazy young man warned as he took another card from his hand. "I play Pot of Greed." Drawing twice, he then said, "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master, giving me 1,000 Life Points..."

An aura of light surrounded Gerald, and he held his arms out, letting it work through him. He found this use of the card more satisfying, in a way, than previous uses, as if the light were more intense. The marks of the Dark Snake Syndrome shrank slightly as his Life Points rose to 5,100.

Reston's eyes narrowed, and he briefly raised an arm in front of his eyes. _Sensitivity to light not Feinglory syptom,_ he thought. _Must be Pillar nature. Wish had chance to study other Pillars. Wasted opportunity._

The light faded, and Gerald smiled as he played his next card, saying, "I now summon the Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode."

A single mote of light flew out from Gerald's hand, surprising both duelists. It floated through the air, spiraling down onto the ground before expanding out into the unusual snail-like cephalopod. This was the one Gerald was bonded to, and so the Amazon Archer gave him a slight salute, while the Kisetai digging into her shriveled in fear. (700/500) The Banner of Courage waved yet again, empowering it. (700/500 - 900/500)

"Such odd creature," Reston said, blinking once more. "Not biologist or would vivisect."

"Bring your scalpel anywhere near my Servant and I will break your hands," the younger man warned. "And hands are a surgeon's lifeblood, aren't they?"

The sick man paled.

"As I was going to say," Gerald continued, "I will now have Amazon Archer attack your older facedown with Savage Arrow."

Knocking the Kisetai out of her field of view, the Amazon Archer took another arrow from her quiver and took aim, bow waving about as twinges of pain ran through her arms. She finally got a lock and fired, the arrow piercing through a small brown hamster-like rodent. It squeaked and exploded in a cloud of dust. (900/400)

A card jutted out of Reston's deck, and as he pulled it free, his Image set those gnarled, long-fingered hands on his shoulders and ran black energy across them. "Image Effect, Gift of Death, gives 500 Life Points if monster destroyed without Battle Damage," he said, his Life Points now 6,400. "Plus, monster was Bubonic Vermin - Special Summon new one facedown when flipped." Another facedown monster appeared on his field.

One hand ran over Gerald's temple as he frowned. "Fine. Servant of Catabolism, direct attack with Electric Tendrils."

The bizarre creature oozed forward, raising its tentacles as it passed cleanly between Reston's facedown monsters. The Pillar of Death merely waved his hand, and one of his facedown cards lifted up... and then there was an unearthly howl, and high above the cathedral's bell tolled.

And a wall of white fog rose in front of Reston, cutting off the Servant's attack. On closer examination, the fog appeared to be human shapes, but with tormented looks on their faces. The howl came from their open, screaming mouths.

"Spirit Barrier," Reston explained. "Prevents battle damage as long as monsters in play on field. Perfect defense against Direct Attack monsters."

"Like my deck," Gerald said, his eyes widening. "As long as that card is active, I have nothing I can use against you."

"Point exactly."

_Wait,_ Gerald thought as his monster returned to him. _I have one weapon to use against him... but I have to draw it soon. I cannot let everyone down like this._ "I end my turn."

"And begin next." Reston drew his next card, and then paused, clenching his fists and muttering, "Without oxygen tank, will not be pleasant."

And then the Dark Snake Syndrome flared to life, and both duelists simply collapsed, blood running from their mouths and noses. But as he fell, Gerald's mind flitted elsewhere...

**0000000**

It was like standing behind a wall of unbreakable glass. Gerald pressed his hand against it, working out where he was - he stood on a single lighted spot, standing behind a transparent field, and stared into a void And in the center of that void...

She was much younger than he knew her as being. He was looking at a little girl, no older than six, cowering in the center of a dark room. Her hair was long and red, and it hung over her body as she whimpered. She wore a t-shirt and shorts, and her arms and legs were covered in wounds; cuts and bruises ran over her limbs. But he could see her eyes when she looked up, and that was all he needed to see.

"Laura," he whispered.

The girl, Laura, was cowering from something off to the edge of the room. It circled her, footsteps shaking the ground, and its oversized hands grabbed at the room's edges as it walked in circles. Occasionally the... thing let out a low growl, flexing its hands as it walked. Whenever it passed in front of Laura, the girl let out a low cry.

Unable to stop himself, Gerald raised his voice and said, "Laura, it's Gerald. Wake up. Please... at least look my way..."

But she couldn't hear him. All she could do was whimper.

And then the pain faded, and he was back in his own head...

**0000000**

Pools of blood marked the ground in front of either man as the duelists stood up again. Both men wiped their mouths on their hands, Gerald's Life Points at 3,500 and Reston's at 4,800. And then Gerald spoke. "You bastard."

"Why in particular?" the sick man asked, spitting a red glob on the cracked marble.

"You put those images in her head. She's torturing herself in her mind, and you were the one who did it to her."

Reston then shook his head, looking confused. "Cannot put thoughts in head. Darkness Infected create own torments. All disease does is put them there."

Taken aback, Gerald thought, _In that case, what hasn't she told me about herself?_ "In any case..." He took a deep breath, held his arms in front of him, and whispered, **_"I call my Image."_**

It did not work the way Images usually worked. A pool of white light formed around Gerald's feet, much to his surprise, and then moved outward, wrapping up and around him. The light weaved itself into a lattice shape, slowly billowing out into a low, hunched figure...

The light eventually faded, revealing its true form. It was a tall, burly man in a metal skullcap and armor, with a dog's legs and tail. He stood behind Gerald and hunched his shoulders, yawning slightly, before scratching his side.

Reston blinked, tilting his head. "Indominable Fighter Lei Lei?"

Turning to look at it, Gerald sighed, shoulders slumping. "Well, I did sense I had a kinship with that card," he said, "but somehow I have no better idea than you do. And it's _part_ of me."

"Still this turn," the Pillar of Death said with a shake of his head. "Normally, this card not in deck... but prepared for you. Knew what to add to deck to counter Chosen of the Light..." He switched cards on his Duel Disk. "Sacrifice Bubonic Vermin for Patrician of Darkness."

Gerald quickly turned back around and braced himself.

The little hamster appeared for a moment, and then poofed away. In his place, as the clouds passed in front of the sun, a dark man rose from the marble. The man had deep blue, cyanotic skin, with pointed ears and white hair, and his eyes were hidden in shadow from his brow. He wore a black cloak with a red lining, and one hand held the edge of his cloak. A grin crossed his face, revealing sharp teeth. (2,000/1,400)

"Set card facedown," Reston continued. "Now, Patrician, attack Servant of Catabolism. Crimson Lightning."

The powerful zombie raised his free hand, red energy crackling on the tip of one outstretched finger. He then pointed with that hand at the Servant of Catabolism, and a bolt of blood-red lightning burst out at the creature...

Hitting a button on his Duel Disk, Gerald noted, "I set this at the beginning of the duel and didn't think I'd ever use it. Huh. Activate Negate Attack."

From nowhere, an invisible field sprang up in front of Gerald's monsters. The lightning struck it and dissipated, thrown out in all directions.

As his eyes narrowed, Reston said, "End turn."

Gerald drew his next card, and then turned away. It was not worth it to watch the Amazon Archer convulse a second time as the Kisetai sucked the energy from her and fed it to Reston, raising the Pillar's Life Points to 5,600. When it was over, he sighed and played his draw. "I play Double Spell. By discarding a Magic Card, I may mimic any one Magic Card in your Graveyard. Therefore, I discard Level Limit - Area B to mimic your Card of Demise."

The Pillar of Death put a hand to his chin, murmuring, "Interesting."

A large hologram of Double Spell appeared on Gerald's field. Beside it, a large picture of Level Limit - Area B came into being. Energy streamed out of the latter card and into the former, draining the color from the Level Limit until it finally crumbled to dust. The Double Spell rippled and became Card of Demise before dissipating. Gerald drew his five cards even as five candles appeared on his field.

Waving one finger, Reston noted, "Now on time limit."

"That isn't a worry at this point," Gerald replied. He held up his hand to reveal one of his cards was glowing.

For a brief, almost invisible instant, Reston's mouth tightened and his eyes widened. It vanished before it could be confirmed.

The younger man did not notice the expression, instead playing another card with a declaration of, "I now activate my Giant Trunade."

Wind began to stream through the ruined cathedral, causing the bell to peal over their heads. It soon increased, blowing dead leaves across the floor, and then rose into a proper storm. The building itself began to shake, and then every card on the field vanished in the wind, the Banner of Courage ripping out of the floor as the other cards faded away. The Kisetai pulled away from the Amazon Archer, who let out a sigh of relief, and the marks of the Dark Snake Syndrome disappeared, the accompanying pain gone with them.

"I play my Banner of Courage again," Gerald continued, the banner rising up behind him as he said so, "and then I offer my Amazon Archer as a Tribute for..." He paused, taking a more reverent tone. "My Heaven's Sphere."

Setting her bow and quiver aside, the young girl knelt before Gerald, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face turned towards the sky, and she smiled, eyes shutting. Slowly, her body turned pure white, light rising around her to form a perfect sphere. The light drew back from the sphere, and in time it became solid, forming a large orb with the color and texture of pure marble. It looked, in fact, like the floor of the cathedral. (2,000/1,000) The Banner of Courage fluttered, and the sphere shined brighter. (2,000/1,000 - 2,200/1,000)

The Pillar of Death shrugged, looked at the Heaven's Gift... and then looked away, hiding his eyes. _How?_ he wondered.

In contrast, the Servant of Catabolism raised its tendrils, caressing the surface of the Heaven's Sphere.

Raising one hand, Gerald ordered, "Heaven's Sphere, attack the Patrician of Darkness with Light of Justice."

A single point of light formed on the front of the sphere, and it slowly grew larger, the entire structure of the Heaven's Sphere throbbing in time to the growth. In time, the point was ready. Turning to the zombie noble, the orb throbbed once more and discharged its power in a single beam of light, burning towards it...

The Patrician of Darkness gestured with one hand, and the Heaven's Sphere spun on its axis, unleashing the beam on Reston's facedown monster. It appeared as a large, purple ball of indetermine material, with purple ooze at its center. (1,000/100) The light burned it to a cinder and clipped Reston's shoulder, causing the sick man to wince as his Life Points plunged to 3,500.

As the monster fell apart, however, a cloud of purple smoke rolled towards Gerald. He unwittingly breathed it, and then it felt like his body was on fire. He tensed up, his muscles locking and skin pulling back, and looked for a brief moment like a standing corpse as his Life Points dropped to 3,000.

Once the effect wore off, Gerald took a few deep breaths and muttered, "So... how did that work? I haven't seen an attack redirected like that before..."

"Effect of Patrician of Darkness," Reston explained. "Chooses target of attack on monsters on field. Chose to change target to Giant Germ. Giant Germ effect when destroyed takes 500 Life Points and Special Summons others." Two more large germ spores hovered on the Pillar's field as he said it.

"I see... I never encountered a Patrician of Darkness before." The younger man then shrugged. "But attacking monsters is just a sideline for me. Servant of Catabolism, attack him directly. And if that monster works like I think it does, you can't redirect direct attacks."

_Correct,_ the Pilar of Death thought as he blinked. His confusion kept him from seeing the Servant of Catabolism reach his ankle and dig its tendrils into him. The electricity ran through him, reawakening long-dead nerves and running its energy through that channel. All thoughts left Reston's mind as he convulsed, pain funneling through him despite his expectations and sending his Life Points to 2,600.

"I set a card facedown," Gerald concluded as the Servant left Reston behind, "and end my turn."

It took several moments for Reston's body to discharge the excess electricity, during which he flinched and convulsed, sparks dancing on his fingers. He then straightened out, coughing twice. The coughs built up, and finally he spat a long, thin stream of blood onto the floor, more blood trickling from his mouth. "Long time since felt pain like that," he said. "Will _not_ feel it again. Will cut own nerve endings if needed."

"I really don't know if that would stop it," the younger man said, raising an eyebrow.

Drawing a card, the Pillar said, "Told of Heaven's Sphere before sent out. Know weakness - no natural defenses. Play Ekibyo Drakmord on Sphere."

As the card appeared, the Pillar of Death's Image, Newdoria, held out its hands, and black smoke billowed out from its palms. It crossed the floor, wrapping around Heaven's Sphere like an insubstantial serpent. The sphere's surface faded, its natural glow flickering away, and then the smoke faded, leaving only an oily black sheen over its target.

Worry sank into Gerald's face as he said, "I... I've heard of that card before..."

"Targeted card cannot attack. On second of opponent Standby Phases after card played, equipped monster destroyed. Then disease spreads, returning to hand."

Something inside the Chosen of the Light cracked, and he thought, _When Heaven's Sphere was simply removed from the game, part of my soul was torn in the process. What will happen if it dies?_

Ignoring his opponent's plight, Reston continued, "Now play second Poison of the Old Man. Choose healing effect again."

A second time, the table sprang from the cathedral's floor, and the Pillar of Death snatched up the thin bottle of green liquid, drinking it down. His Life Points became 3,800, and he sighed in relief, his Image smiling foully behind him. "Now," he continued, "set two cards facedown and play Shallow Grave. Both choose monster from Graveyard and set facedown on field."

Taking out his Graveyard from its slot, Gerald picked one monster, as did Reston. Both men placed them on their Duel Disks, and two facedown monsters flashed into being on their fields.

"Replay Dark Snake Syndrome," the Pillar announced, "and end turn." Once again, the all-too-familiar marks of the black disease appeared on the bodies of both duelists. As the turn ended, the third candle on his field went out.

Gerald drew, shutting his eyes as he did so - not to concentrate further on the act, but to avoid having to look at Heaven's Sphere. The creation of Light was beginning to crack along the surface, light leaking out of the cracks, and the darkness swirled over its surface as the Ekibyo Drakmord ate at it. Taking a card, Gerald slid it into his Duel Disk. "Spell Sanctuary," he stated as it began to appear. "Both of us search our decks for any one Magic Card and add it to our hands. In addition, as long as the Sanctuary stands, all Magic cards can be played as Quick-Plays."

To Gerald's far left, visible through the destroyed wall of the cathedral, a building shimmered into being. It looked like a glowing church, and beams of light radiated from the steeple, penetrating the dying light of the battleground. Individual beams of light fell on both men's decks, and they took them from the Duel Disks, fanning through them until they found what they were looking for. They then took the cards from their decks, shuffled, and put the decks back in place.

Once his deck was back in the deck slot, Gerald set down the card he had searched for. "Now," he continued, "I play Nobleman of Extermination on your leftmost facedown card. If it's what I think it is, this search was not in vain."

A rather burly knight with an oversized sword in hand flashed into being beside Reston. He gave the Pillar a glare, and then spun the gigantic blade over his head. After two revolutions, he brought it down pointfirst into the concealed card. It was revealed as Spirit Barrier right before it blinked out of existence. Two more cards jutted out of Reston's deck when that happened, and the knight yanked them out before disappearing.

"...Nobleman of Extermination hits Trap Card," the sick man muttered to himself, "removes all traps by that name from play. Primary defense lost..."

"And that done," Gerald replied, "I summon my Inaba White Rabbit once more."

Once again, the white rabbit and its teleporter came into being, both none the worse for wear from their frequent jaunts back and forth between Gerald's hand and his field. Both appeared directly under the Banner of Courage. (700/500 - 900/500)

Stretching one arm, which for some reason was beginning to cramp, Gerald ordered, "Inaba White Rabbit, attack him directly."

Even as the teleporter began to warm up, Reston shook his head, waving to his other facedown card. "Activate Continuous Trap Card name of Skull Lair. Remove monsters from Graveyard until removed amount equal to target monster level, destroy target monster." Those long, thin fingers reached into the Graveyard slot and pulled forth three cards. "Poison Mummy, Giant Germ, Bubonic Vermin."

The floor behind Reston disappeared, and in its place appeared a strange set of masonry. It appeared on first glance to be a simple cobblestone alley, its walls not quite obscuring the stained glass over their heads, but something appeared to be wrong. And then a strange, luminescent fog rolled past the Pillar's ankles, whirling about itself as it began to grow. Newdoria hugged itself and shuddered as the fog passed it.

And then the images appeared in it. For brief seconds, one could see a giant germ spore, a pair of men wrapped in rotting linen, or a small hamster, their forms showing up on the fog for just a brief period before vanishing again. The fog whirled about again and again, and then suddenly surged across the field, rolling over the Inaba White Rabbit...

Gerald did not see what happened next. All he knew was that when the fog lifted, the Inaba White Rabbit existed no more.

This just caused the lazy young man to shrug, noting, "You don't have enough monsters to do that again. Servant of Catabolism, direct attack with Electric Tendrils."

The Pillar of Death blinked, thinking, _Correct. Not enough monsters to destroy Servant. _He then could not think anything, as the Servant of Catabolism reached him and dug its tentacles into his ankle. The electricity arced over him, and this time the Pillar of Death let out a cry of pain, blood splashing over his lips as he did so. When the shock wore off, he collapsed onto one knee, ill body shaking as his Life Points stopped going down, his Life Points at 2,900.

With the attack complete, Gerald adjusted his cards, glanced to the ailing Heaven's Sphere, and murmured, "Turn's over." The second candle on his field went out.

The Pillar drew, and the Dark Snake Syndrome marks flared to life. Once again, both men merely stared into each other's eyes, daring the other to flinch as the lowest level of pain crossed their bodies. Gerald's Life Points lowered to 2,800, and Reston watched his own total lower to 2,700.

For a moment, the Chosen of the Light just stood there, and then his knees wavered...

**0000000**

Again, he was back behind the unbreakable glass, but this time he already knew who he was looking at. The tall, blonde figure of Chad Montmelier was running across an endless plain, one that appeared to be the African Savannah by moonlight. He was panting, as if he had run for a very long time, and his clothes were torn to pieces. Unable to keep moving, Chad sank to one knee, sweat dripping onto the ground in front of him.

And then a roar sounded off in the distance, and Chad gulped. He tried to stand up, but one leg gave out and he fell over, staring at the sky.

"Chad?" a voice said beside him, and the tall young man looked up, seeing what appeared to be a young girl with endless black hair - Vivienne - standing beside him. She held out one hand, and he reached for it... but it disappeared just as he touched her.

And then there was another roar, and a figure came out of the shadows, chuckling. "Found you," it said, walking up to him and jamming its foot against his stomach.

Gerald had to blink a few times as he made out what the figure was. It was another version of Chad, but this one was only nominally human. This Chad's hair had grown out into a long mane; he had long, sharp fingernails, and the only clothing he wore was pants torn off at the knee. His teeth were filed into points, and his eyes... he had the dead eyes of a shark.

"Die," the vicious-looking Chad said to his trapped alter ego, and he pounced onto him, claws flashing. Gerald could not look away, try as he did.

It was several minutes, or so it seemed, before the vicious Chad was done ripping his normal self apart. Blood splattered the landscape, with torn and rent flesh scattered around the body. Several key organs were missing, while others had bits missing from them. Chad's hands and face were torn to pieces, and his legs were stripped to the bone...

...or so it seemed. Gerald blinked and Chad was back to normal, groaning as he forced himself back to his feet. And then came the roar, and he was off running again, but this time Gerald knew why.

Before he could try to speak, he was back in his own head.

**0000000**

As he recovered, Gerald discovered he was leaning against his Image. Lei Lei's hands were holding onto his shoulders, keeping Gerald upright as the last vestiges of the Dark Snake Syndrome passed through him.

"Thank you," the young man said as he left his Image's grip. "Incidentally, what's your effect?" He paused, getting a sudden flash of pictures in his mind, and then groaned, shaking his head. "Fat lot of good _that_ will do me in this duel."

Lei Lei's face fell, and he turned away from his host, sighing.

Turning to Reston, Gerald asked, "Maybe you know. In his hallucination, Chad's being chased by a rather unpleasant version of himself. What does that represent?"

"That I know," the sick man replied. "Within Chad mind, feral part awakened. No pity, no mercy, just kills. Bestial part of him. During duel, part awoke, and now Chad frightened of it destroying civilized part."

"Oh," Gerald muttered.

"But enough," the Pillar then said as he reached to his Duel Disk. "Turn still on. Switch Germs to Defense Mode..." The Giant Germs on either side of the Patrician of Darkness sank to the ground, surrounded by a haze of purple smoke. "And play Nightmare's Steelcage, preventing attack from either side for two turns. Your count."

Not having seen this before, Gerald could only say, "How novel" as the steel bars sprang over his head. They anchored themselves into the floor on either side, new bars springing up around him until he was surrounded by a veritable net of green, spiked steel. A wall sprang up between them, forcing both side's monsters back.

"End turn," Reston said, the fourth candle on his field going out.

Duelist's instincts sent Gerald's hand to his deck, but he stopped before he actually drew. _Drawing leads to the Standby Phase,_ he thought, _and this is the second Standby Phase after Ekibyo Drakmord was played. Which means that when I draw, the disease will destroy Heaven's Sphere. But... I'm not sure if I'll still be alive after that..._

His hand trembled over his card, and Reston's eyes narrowed as the sick man glared across his field. "Gerald," he finally said, the first time he had ever called his opponent by name, "stop wasting time. Draw card. Nothing you can do. Nothing."

In resignation, Gerald finally drew his card.

The Heaven's Sphere shuddered for a brief second, and then went still. As Gerald watched, it went completely black, no longer the cloudy black the disease had shown before, and stopped hovering to settle on his field. And then part of it cracked, pieces falling away. Another portion of its being broke into pieces, fragments of the Heaven's Gift tumbling away. A larger part of it exploded outward, glittering fragments flying out from it.

In the end, the being finally shattered, shards of it raining down on the Chosen of the Light as it died. The shards caught in Gerald's clothing, one of them cutting his cheek. Blood trickled down from the cut as a cold wind passed through the Nightmare's Steelcage, blowing his sleeves about. Gerald just stared at the spot, unblinking, his eyes glassing over.

After a moment, Reston shook his head. "Effect of Ekibyo Drakmord returns it to hand," he said.

Behind Gerald, the Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei gripped his chest, his teeth gritting. The beast-warrior then sank to one knee, sweat rolling down his forehead as his eyes shut. With a groan, he collapsed and turned transparent, hardly moving.

**0000000**

Alexander raised an eyebrow, murmuring, "I didn't think Images could do that. Why has it gone all transparent?"

"Because Heaven's Sphere is dead," Degas replied. "When it was destroyed, it tore a hole in Gerald's soul on its way out. One's Image is part of one's soul, and so the Image was damaged as well. In time, the hole will heal, but for now Gerald has to fight while missing a key portion of himself."

Bethany cringed, and the man in green rubbed her back, pressing the knuckles of his other hand to his chin. _I suppose that answers the question of "what price victory"..._

**0000000**

The last traces of Heaven's Sphere faded away, and Gerald swayed uneasily on his feet, gaze on the ground. He slowly lifted his head and turned, looking without interest at his wounded Image before turning back to his opponent. Without blinking, he took a card from his hand and played it, his voice flat and monotone as he said, "I play Graceful Charity."

The clouds parted overhead, and a stream of the setting sun's light fell on Gerald, causing his expression to shift for a second. And then the angel descended, feathers falling around her as she touched the ground. She passed through the Nightmare's Steelcage without any trouble and landed in front of the Chosen of the Light. Her eyes locked with Gerald's, and her lip quivered... just before she grabbed the young man and pulled him tight against her.

For a moment, Gerald struggled, and then he blinked before leaning into the embrace, his eyes shutting as he did so. When they opened again and he pulled away, they had lost their glassy look, although there was still something empty about his expression. He drew three cards, and then handed her an Island Turtle and Gravity Bind.

After kissing his forehead, the angel ascended away, leaving Reston to twitch an eyebrow. _Not in plan,_ he thought. _Opponent soul still damaged, but full advantage lost. Part restored; mind fully functioning again._

"Where was I..." Gerald said, the bored drawl back in his voice, but his pitch still off. "Ah... I play Dian Keto the Cure Master, giving me 1,000 Life Points." The aura of light formed around his feet, and he glowed for a moment, his Life Points rising to 3,800. "And that ends my turn."

Reston drew, and then tapped his foot impatiently as the Dark Snake Syndrome flared to life, knowing neither of them were really affected. Both men shut their eyes, letting the pain run its course as Reston's Life Points lowered to 2,300 and Gerald's to 3,400. That done, he placed two cards into his Duel Disk, noting, "Two cards facedown. Next, switch Poison Mummy to Attack Mode..."

For a second time, two men wrapped in rotting purple linens stood up, their bodies staggering under the weight of the thousands of years they had spent as mummies. (1,000/1,800) One of them ripped its own stomach open, and a disease-filled purple cloud rolled over Gerald again, causing him to choke as he had no choice but to breathe it. His Life Points sank to 2,900.

As he caught his breath, Gerald noted, "How strange... that pain didn't even feel real. It felt... hollow."

"Soul not intact," Reston said. "All sensations off until repaired. Either way, end turn, and Card of Demise effect activate." The last candle went out, and a dark cloud flashed over the two cards in his hand. When it disappeared, the cards were gone.

"Then I will begin," Gerald said as he drew his next card, his eyes slightly unfocused. Over his head, the Nightmare's Steelcage was rusting apart, pieces of it falling past his head and breaking into fragments on the marble floor.

Before he could even put the card with the others he held, the Pillar of Death waved to one facedown card, and it began to rise as he proclaimed - still in his eternal monotone - "Facedown card open, Deck Devastation Virus. Sacrifice Patrician of Darkness to destroy all monsters of under 1,500 Attack Points."

Part of Gerald's mind, the part that was still recovering from the loss of Heaven's Sphere, thought, _Which means I now have exactly one playable monster until it wears off..._

On Reston's field, the Patrician of Darkness began to convulse, his eyes narrowing as something began to rumble inside that dead flesh. The zombie flinched, and then slowly began to rot, lips thinning and skin growing tighter on his frame. Light red smoke leaked out as the skin cracked and muscles tore apart, the Patrician's body twisting, and then he split in half, the decrepit body falling into a hundred pieces.

From the mangled remains, red smoke poured out onto Gerald's field, and the young man watched without much interest as it hovered over the Servant of Catabolism and his facedown monster, exposed as his Cyber Tutu. The snail/squid creature's tentacles retracted, and it began to shiver, its body beginning to dry out. Beside it, the Cyber Tutu coughed, blood dripping out of her mouth as she coughed again.

There was a bubbling noise, and then the Servant of Catabolism collapsed in on itself, leaving a blue puddle of liquid as it melted away. With each cough, the Cyber Tutu's body became more and more dessicated, leaving her a little skeleton with a thin layer of flesh. The final cough snapped her spine, and she fell to the ground, twitching for just a moment before she stopped and both shattered.

The smoke cleared, and Gerald blinked, feeling an empty space in his emotions. _How badly did losing my Heaven's Gift hurt me?_ he thought. Taking one of his other cards, he said, "I play Swords of Revealing Light and end my turn."

Overhead, the sky parted, and multiple shining swords fired down onto the field, smashing holes into the half-decayed Nighmare's Steelcage as they embedded their tips into the ground. All three of Reston's monsters - both of his defending Giant Germs and the Poison Mummy - froze in place, unable to move to any extent. One sword in particular struck through the pants leg of his Image, Newdoria; the wretched man tried to pull away, gibbering.

Gerald's turn ended, and the fourth candle of his Card of Demise went out.

And then the Nightmare's Steelcage broke to pieces, rust filling the cathedral for a moment as it crashed to the floor with a ring of steel on stone.

The Pillar of Death drew, and then the marks of the Dark Snake Syndrome began to expand on both their bodies. By this point, both men were so numb that no amount of pain could make them react, and therefore both just glared at each other as sweat beaded on their foreheads and their limbs twitched. Reston's Life Points stopped at 1,500, and Gerald's went down to 2,100.

After a moment of clearing his throat, Reston said, "Activate facedown card, Emergency Provisions. Destroy Dark Snake Syndrome and Skull Lair to gain 2,000 Life Points." The bizarre mouth shot out of his Quickplay Magic Card, biting through the elaborate Skull Lair and his Dark Snake Syndrome, and Reston's Life Points went back up to 3,500. He then paused, eyes narrowing at the light of the Swords, before saying, "Set one card facedown. End turn."

Even as Gerald drew, the Swords of Revealing Light began to dim. Red clouds surrounded his hand, and then he frowned, asking, "What is this?"

"Deck Devastation Virus continued effect," the Pillar replied. "Next three draws, must show card and discard monster of less than 1,500 Attack Points."

"I drew Ameba..." The clouds gathered around his hand, and he winced as they burned at it, making him drop the card. It fell into his Graveyard. Shaking off his hand, he continued, "Now I set the last card in my hand and end my turn... and since my hand is empty, Card of Demise means nothing." The last candle went out, and then the candles simply vanished.

"Chain to Card of Demise effect," Reston interrupted, "with Hidden Book of Spell. Shuffle three Magic Cards from Graveyard back into deck." His facedown card flipped up, and he withdrew Ekibyo Drakmord, Dark Snake Syndrome, and Poison of the Old Man from his Graveyard before pushing them into his deck. The Duel Disk whirred as it shuffled the cards.

_Dark Snake Syndrome again?_ Gerald thought, his consciousness beginning to uncloud. _He has to be playing several of them, which means all that really does for him is improve his odds._

"Turn proper begins," the Pillar of Death declared as he drew his next card. He then slid it into place, announcing, "Vase of Unholy Blight. Remove Wall of Illusions from deck to draw three cards."

An even more sinister version of Pot of Greed flashed into being on Reston's field, settling amid the cracked flooring. For an instant, the wall of human flesh and muscle appeared at its spout, and then it sucked inward, the pot shattering when this was done. With one pull, Reston took the top three cards of his deck into his hand.

Fanning them out, the Pillar of Death announced, "Dark Snake Syndrome." Once more the markings of the disease came into being on their bodies. "Set card facedown, end turn." Around him, the Swords of Revealing Light faded almost into transparency.

Gerald then drew, holding up his draw. "I drew Mirror Force." The clouds of the Deck Devastation Virus, already thinning, pulled away. "And now I activate my facedown Exchange, forcing you to trade the one card in your hand for the one card in mine."

With a glare, Reston held out his own Sixth Sense. A pair of disembodied hands reached down, snatching up Gerald's trap and Reston's trap and spinning around, placing either player's card into the other player's hand before disappearing.

"I will set that card facedown," Gerald concluded, "and then end my turn with that."

The Pillar of Death said nothing, instead drawing his next card in silence. By this point, neither of them paid any attention to the Dark Snake Syndrome, try as it might to make them scream in pain; compared to what had come before, the first level of the card was like a series of pinpricks. Reston's Life Points lowered to 3,300 and Gerald's to 2,400.

"In response to the Dark Snake Syndrome," Gerald announced, "I activate your stolen Sixth Sense. According to what I read on the card, I name two numbers and roll a die, drawing cards equal to the rolled number if it's a number I named and losing cards from my deck equal to the rolled number on a failure..."

"Chain," Reston replied. "Poison of the Old Man. Choose healing effect."

The first card to lift itself was the Poison of the Old Man. For a last time, the table appeared in front of Reston, and as each time before it he picked up the tall, thin vial, opened it, and drank the green liquid. His Life Points rose to 4,500.

After that, Gerald's trap card lifted upright, and he said, "Five and six." A purple haze appeared around him, and then a die shot out, bouncing three times as it settled. It landed with a six showing, and so he drew six cards, tucking them into his hand.

One of the cards, however, made Gerald stop for a moment. His eyes shut, and he thought, _I... I have to fight on. Heaven's Sphere is powerful and all, but I can't let its loss rattle me this badly. Since I lost it my dueling skills have gone into the gutter. There is simply too much riding on this duel. Too much at stake for me to be an amateur when it counts. I have to pull myself together and fight._ He took a deep breath...

...and behind him, his Image, the long-forgotten and unconscious Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei, woke up. He turned solid again, pushed himself back onto his feet, and patted Gerald on the shoulder.

_Blast. Soul restored fully. Need final trump soon or defeated._ Taking his drawn card, the Pillar of Death declared, "Graceful Charity."

Even though he had played the card, and they were standing in a decrepit cathedral, no angel came for Reston. He simply pulled the top three cards off of his deck, examined them, and then slid Gerald's Mirror Force and his own Nubian Guard into the Graveyard.

_How foul do you have to be for the angels to ignore you like that?_ Gerald wondered.

"Set two cards facedown," Reston announced, "and end turn." The Swords of Revealing Light shattered around him, and his monsters rose up; his Image dusted off its pantsleg and groaned.

For the last time, the clouds of the Deck Devastation Virus gathered around Gerald. He held his breath, drew, and showed them the card in his hand, frowning. "Raging Flame Sprite..." The clouds gathered around his hand, and he slid the card into his Graveyard before waving his hand around, blowing the clouds away.

_Seemed less disappointed,_ Reston thought, crossing his arms. His hands were empty, and one fist set to his chin.

"And now..." Gerald paused, blinking a few times, and then covered his mouth as he let out a quiet yawn. "Sorry. I now summon Loyal Knightess in Attack Mode."

She appeared without warning, standing on top of the bell tower, rapier in hand. With a couple of steps, Laura's doppelganger flipped off of the bell and landed in front of Gerald, the studs on her armor gleaming in the low light. She knelt and then stood, weapon at the ready. (1,500/1,200) The long-forgotten Banner of Courage waved overhead, and she smiled. (1,500/1,200 - 1,700/1,200)

After a moment, Gerald played the next card in his hand, smiling. "I next play Monster Reborn to bring back..."

The Pillar of Death cut him off. "Heaven's Sphere. Only monster needed."

"Exactly."

The stylized ankh shone over Gerald's field, and then continued to shine. It turned into pure light white, which swelled out and became the all-too-familiar orb both of them had seen before. Eventually, the light died down, leaving behind the marble-bodied Heaven's Sphere. (2,000/1,000 - 2,200/1,000)

A cold wind blew through the ruined cathedral, and finally Gerald asked, "I need to know. Is this place real? Or have you brought us to an illusion?"

"Created location through Pillar abilities," the Pillar of Death replied. "Have more power than standard Pillars. Was always strongest."

"Thank you." Gerald then nodded to the Loyal Knightess. "Attack one of the Giant Germs with Loyalist's Thrust."

Reston blinked.

Raising her blade, the Loyal Knightess swung it twice in front of her face before lifting it to the horizontal position in front of her. She then took a deep breath and sprang across the field, slamming the rapier straight through one of the germ spores on Reston's field. It exploded into a cloud of purple dust, making her cough and stumble back.

Two events occured simultaneously at that point. The first was that, as one of his monsters had died without his taking Battle Damage, Reston's Image set its long-fingered hands on his shoulders and channeled black energy through his body, raising his LP to 5,000. The second was that another cloud of purple smoke rolled across Gerald, causing his body to go rigid and his lips and scalp to pull back. He took on a corpse's appearance for a moment before stumbling back to normal, his LP falling to 1,900.

"Pointless move," Reston noted, sliding the destroyed Giant Germ into his Graveyard.

Shaking his head, Gerald replied, "Not really. Firstly, you only have one monster left. Secondly, my Heaven's Sphere deals damage through Defense Mode, and I just determined you have no way to stop me. Light of Justice on the second Giant Germ. Now."

There was no charging period this time. The Heaven's Sphere pulsed once, and then fired a beam of pure light through the Giant Germ and straight into Reston. The Germ was incinerated, leaving nothing behind - not even ashes. As for the Pillar of Death, his eyes went wide and he clenched his fists, sweat rolling down his forehead as blood began to drip from his nose. His Life Points plunged to 2,900. Gerald's went down as well, to 1,400, but without the previous added effects.

"I then play Dian Keto..." As Gerald said it, the circle of light surrounded him, humming softly and raising his Life Points to 2,400. "...set this facedown, and end my turn." A facedown card appeared in front of him, and he yawned again.

_Those yawns..._ Reston thought as he slumped over, hands on his knees and body shaking. _Told of them. Mean victory imminent. Life in danger for first time since Feinglory's delayed. Must win. Must do so fast. _

He paused, shivering. _Must use it. Pain too much. Body may die even if duel not over._

"I draw," Reston said, doing so. As always, the Dark Snake Syndrome activated, but neither of them reacted. It was questionable whether they could actually _feel_ it at this point. Reston's Life Points went to 2,500, and Gerald's went to 2,000.

"In response to the damage," Gerald noted, "I activate my final Attack and Receive. This time, the damage totals 1,300 points."

Three men in armor stepped out from the card, swords raised high. They crossed their weapons, and then the three waririors charged Reston, weapons at the ready. They all impaled him simultaneously, causing him to grunt and spit out a glob of blood as the weapons dug into his body. His Life Points shot down to 1,200 before the men vanished.

Collapsing to the ground, the Pillar of Death broke into a furious coughing fit, blood splattering all over the marble floor as he hacked and wheezed. His arms shook, barely able to keep his head off the ground as he coughed, blood flowing freely from his nose and mouth.

Only then did it hit Gerald what the stakes were. He had sentenced Reston to die if he lost... and now, watching the pitiful spectacle of the Pillar of Death's coughing fit, all he could think was, _Do I really have it in me to execute him?_

Shutting his eyes, Gerald then remembered the sight of Laura as a child, haunted by a brutal specter. He recalled Chad, stalked and killed over and over by his bestial self. And he nodded.

The coughing finally stopped, and Reston pushed himself onto his knees, breathing hard. He pulled his coat's sleeve over his mouth, sucking hard on it, pulling the cloth into his mouth with each inhalation and staining the material a bright red. His eyes were a pure red now, the blood veins having leaked out into them, and it was questionable if he could even see. After several blinks, the irises and pupils cleared.

It was a long minute before he threw the card he was holding into his Duel Disk, announcing, "Activate Lethal Harvest. Destroy cards on field in exchange for two cards per card destroyed. Will destroy facedown Ekibyo Drakmord and Dark Snake Syndrome for four cards."

The card itself appeared on Reston's field, bearing on it the picture of the Reaper of the Cards bringing its scythe down on a wounded Dark Magician. Without any fanfare, both of the cards Reston had named exploded, and he pulled the top four cards of his deck off of it, fanning them out. And then two glowing orbs hovered over his shoulders.

Gerald raised his eyebrow, noting, "It's a Continuous Magic Card. Whatever the catch is, I assume it has something to do with those orbs."

"Correct," Reston noted. "Orbs are counters. During End Phase, lose one. When no counters remain, lose hand and field clears. Now play final, reshuffled Poison of the Old Man... for healing..."

The table rose up in front of him, and for the fourth and final time he yanked out the green bottle's cork, drinking the liquid. His eyes cleared of blood, and he rose to his feet, body quivering with every breath. His Life Points rose to 2,400. "Set card facedown," the Pillar of Death said, "and end turn." Even as the card appeared before him, one of the orbs shattered.

**0000000**

In his room within Degas and Alexander's lair, Klaus Engel studied the deck of tarot cards before him with his one good eye, darkness flickering over it. In front of the deck sat two cards, the Ace of Wands and the Hanged Man.

"The final outcome," he said, drawing a single card. He then turned it over.

It was the Tower.

**0000000**

Gerald drew, and Reston waved his hand, revealing his facedown card as Threatening Roar. The bell suddenly rang overhead, causing the Loyal Knightess to jump and Heaven's Sphere to freeze in place. "As I can't attack," Gerald said, setting a card on his Duel Disk, "I'll set this monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

Exactly thirty seconds passed, and then Reston said, "Chosen. Gerald. Name card not used so far."

The meaning of that question initially escaped Gerald, and he had to give it a long moment's thought... until he realized it. A gasp left him, and he murmured, "Your True Face card... you haven't used it yet..."

"Did not use it against others. Not even in deck. Too risky. No need to. Saved for this battle." Reston drew, and then pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Activate Call of the Haunted. Bring back Giant Germ in Attack Mode."

Three gravestones rose from the cathedral's floor, fog rising from them. Inside the fog appeared the shape of the large germ spore, bobbing in midair. (1,000/100)

"Now play Necromancy," the Pillar of Death continued. "May summon up to four monsters from opponent Graveyard to opponent field. Choose Servant of Catabolism and Cyber Tutu."

In front of Gerald, the floor tiles cracked, and the soil disrupted itself. First came the snail/squid cephalopod, tendrils tangled slightly. (700/500 - 900/500) Next came the tiny ballerina, her dress stained with dirt and torn and her expression a very scared one. (1,000/1,000 - 1,200/1,000)

_Normally you would attack the revived monsters in order to reduce another monster's Attack Points by 600 for each one destroyed, _Gerald thought, _but I doubt he'll try that._

"Finally..." And Reston carefully set one last card on his Duel Disk.

A wave of pure black energy shot out from Reston and slammed into Gerald, who staggered to stay on his feet...

**0000000**

Eight planes border on the Prime Material, the world of humanity. From those worlds border a thousand more, and so on. Of those eight, two are unknown even to the Balance, two belong to the Divine and Chaos themselves, and four are the realms of the Balance's facets.

Deep within one of them, the clash of Light's Chosen and Darkness's Pillar fired off a massive, dimension-cracking wave of power, breaking through an ages-old barricade. Who had built it and why it was built were both forgotten knowledge, and it had begun to crumble from sheer neglect. The force wave was merely the final straw, obliterating it.

The barricade destroyed, the wave carried on to an obelisk, jutting from a mound of rubble. Within it had slept an entity as old as the plane it slept upon, and the force wave awoke it, causing two eyes to open near its top. Those eyes were the only part of the entity not pitch-black. It unfurled from where it had dozed, and looked to the Prime Material, scrutinzing it.

**OH,** the entity said. **IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN. WELL, FAR BE IT FROM ME TO REFUSE AN INVITATION!**

**0000000**

Back on the Prime Material, within the Mall of America, Reston's card appeared in front of him. Its picture showed a woman with blue hair, wearing a white robe, cradling a corpse in her arms. All around her were strewn the dead.

"True Face of Death," Gerald said, eyes narrowing. "I was waiting for this." He then saw something out of place, and leaned in, blinking. "Wait a minute... I was right the first time. That's a Normal Magic Card. The other True Face cards were all Continuous..."

The Pillar of Death nodded. "So powerful that making Continuous was impossible. Card has powerful effect for powerful cost."

A shudder swept through the Chosen of the Light. "And it does?" he asked.

"Pay 2,000 Life Points." Reston's Life Points drained to 400. "Sacrifice one monster." The Giant Germ melted into dust. "And give up ten years of own life." Somehow Reston's body now seemed even more haggard and decayed, his face tightening. "And in exchange..." The Pillar of Death paused. "Destroy all monsters on opponent's field and take away Life Points equal to Attack and Defense scores of each. _Combined._"

Gerald froze in place, his mind not taking in what that meant. "So... how much is that... total?"

Reston shook his head, taking off his Duel Disk and setting it on the ground next to him. "No matter. Exceeds Life Point total. Duel over."

And then it sank in, and Gerald shut his eyes, letting out a long exhalation. His arms fell limp to his sides, cards fluttering out of his hand and scattering at his ankles.

Overhead, the cathedral's bell rang once, a long, resounding note.

Reston began to walk, his footsteps silent and his pace slow. Under his feet, the marble tiles of the cathedral's floor shook and cracked, crumbling into fragments. The fragments then became dust, blowing away as the wind hit them. Behind him, the walls pitted through and away, pouring down as so much dust. The stained-glass windows on the back wall yellowed, cracked and splintered, and then finally shattered, falling away and exploding into sand as they hit the ground.

With each of Reston's steps, he moved closer to Gerald's monsters. The first he approached was the Cyber Tutu, who was kneeling in Defense Mode. She did not move, but as she knelt there, her skin tightened and withered, forming a mummified mask on her face. This split and peeled, exposing the muscular structure, which itself tightened and snapped, exposing skull. Soon enough even the skull rotted away, and her body fell in on itself with a puff of rotten-smelling air.

The Servant of Catabolism was next. It shriveled up, body leaking a blue fluid as the Pillar's foot landed next to it, reducing to about the size of a man's fist. This eventually popped open, leaving a shredded and leaking husk, which crumbled away with Reston's next footstep.

Next he neared the facedown monster, revealing it as a Morphing Jar. The one-eyed pot's eye dried out and fell back into its socket, and its grinning teeth rotted away, falling into its maw one after another. The jar itself slowly turned gray and brittle, little snapping noises bouncing through it as it decayed and turned brittle. With his next step, the jar fell over and shattered.

After that came the Loyal Knightess. With Reston's passage, she began to age, her body maturing into that of a beautiful woman a moment later. But the aging didn't stop. She soon turned into a middle-aged woman, beautiful still, and then her hair turned white and her body wrinkled, shrinking away into an old hag a moment later. Still aging, her flesh pulled in so much that it flaked away, her armor rotting off and her bones cracking within her body. Soon she was a mangled pile of lifeless flesh.

Finally Reston approached the Heaven's Sphere, not even looking at it. It stood there, at first unharmed. But then it turned from its marble gray into a light black, which darkened, leaving it much as it did when it had suffered Ekibyo Drakmord. And then this, too, rotted away, falling in on itself.

With all of Gerald's monsters dead, the Pillar of Death stood before the Chosen of the Light, who had not moved or spoken the entire time his monsters had died. All that was left in this place were Reston, Gerald, and the bell overhead. The two men looked at each other for a minute, eyes locked.

And then Reston reached out, pressed two fingers to Gerald's forehead, and said, **_"Fall."_** The bell tolled overhead and Gerald fell to his knees, his Life Points shooting down to zero.

**0000000**

With a shout, Lucifer stumbled away from the Great Lakes Ballroom, his face agonized and his hands on his head. Demetrius turned to him, yelling, "What has happened, man? What's going on?"

"He lost!" Lucifer cried in French, unable to speak any other language as he dropped to one knee. "Monsieur Laxina has lost!"

**0000000**

To the shock of passerby, Merlee leapt to his feet, head in his hands. "It cannot be!" he said to himself, shivering. "How could the Darkness overcome the Light? It... it cannot be.." He sank back onto his bench, murmuring, "It cannot be..."

**0000000**

Ulysses Cantrell's bicycle swerved and struck a wall on the road outside the Mall of America, throwing him to the ground. Although he was unharmed physically, his spirit was torn apart. He laid on the ground, crying softly as he interpreted the feelings he had sensed.

"We've lost," he said between tears. "It's... it's over..."

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas sprang to his feet, a vicious grin on his face as he crowed in outright ecstasy. "EXCELLENT!" he shouted, thrusting a fist into the air in celebration. "Finally! Finally! We've won it, Alexander! The battle ends in our victory! Damn it all, he did it! That creepy bastard did it!"

Bethany shrank away in confusion, and Alexander merely said, "Yes... yes, he did... we win..." His eyes shut, and he rubbed one of his temples.

**0000000**

The illusion faded, and Gerald sat on his knees in shock, his arms at his side and Reston's fingers pulling back from his forehead. His eyes stared straight ahead, his mind a blur. And then he heard something on his arm.

Deep within his Duel Disk, something began to whine and creak, sounding like a broken CD player. The casing shook, and then the entire contraptation snapped.

Gerald turned his head, and watched his Duel Disk smoke for a second before there was a crash and the casing broke in half. Pieces fell out of the sides, and then his disk fell apart, bolts and screws raining down alongside his cards as the machine fell to pieces. His deck fluttered around him as all that was left on his arm was the straps.

The Pillar of Death snapped his hand out, catching one card out of midair. This he held in front of himself, showing it to Gerald. It was the Servant of Catabolism, the one Gerald felt a connection to. "Vital card?" he asked.

Without thinking, Gerald nodded.

Nodding back, the Pillar of Death wrapped his hand around the card and crushed it in his hand, the cardstock crumpling in his grip before he dropped it in front of Gerald. He then fished another card out of his pocket, one that was glowing. It was a Pyro Clock of Destiny, which he tore in half.

Dark energy covered Reston, and his body seemed to recover slightly. "Specially prepared," he explained to an unmoving Gerald. "Negates drawback effect of True Face of Death. Only had the one. But that matters not."

The marks of the Darkness Infection began to cover Gerald Laxina's body, and a single tear ran down his cheek. _I... I... Please... I..._ More tears flowed from his eyes, and he lowered his head as the veins in his eyes turned black. _Why? Mother... Father... Chad... Laura... Why?_

One of Reston's hands wiped away the tears, and he set his hand on Gerald's head. "No more pain. Sleep."

And Gerald Laxina shut his eyes and collapsed at the Pillar of Death's feet.

**NECROMANCY**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A shadowy figure behind a dark graveyard, rotting corpses pulling themselves up from the ground as it watches.  
Effect: Special Summon up to four Monsters from your opponent's Graveyard to his or her side of the field in face-up Defense Mode. If a Monster summoned by this card is destroyed, reduce the ATK of one of your opponent's Monsters on the field by 600 for one turn.  
_Note: "Necromancy" was first used by Yugi in the original series episode "Clash in the Coliseum (Part 3)". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. _

**LETHAL HARVEST**  
Type: Continuous Magic Card  
Image: The Reaper of the Cards swooping down on a severely injured Dark Magician.  
Effect: Destroy up to five cards on your field. For each card destroyed, draw two cards. Then place a number of counters on this card equal to the number of cards destroyed. During your End Phase, remove one counter from this card. When this card is destroyed or there are no counters on it, send this card to the Graveyard, destroy all cards you control, and discard all cards in your hand.

**TRUE FACE OF DEATH**  
Type: Normal Magic Card/Card of Night  
Image: A blue-haired woman in white robes, standing on top of a pile of corpses and holding a body in her arms.  
Effect: Offer one monster you control, pay 2,000 Life Points, and give up ten years of your life. (This last cost may be reversed by other dark powers.) Destroy all monsters your opponent controls, and they lose Life Points equal to the total Attack and Defense Points of the destroyed monsters.

**INDOMITABLE FIGHTER LEI LEI**  
Image Effect???

_The story has not ended **yet.**_

Coming next chapter: The Darkness's victory is not yet complete. In order to seal their hold on Minnesota, they must win one more battle. The Light has one last champion, and if this one falls, the battle is over. How will the Light make its final attack? And can it overcome the Darkness now that the Darkness has run down all its resistance? Find out in Chapter Thirty, "Quarantine"!


	31. Quarantine

**_Before everything else came into being, there was the Divine and Chaos. But reality could not be built on the Divine itself without leaving it to be instantly destroyed by Chaos. Thus came the First Sundering, when the Divine split its power among four separate entities and created the Balance, holding their power in check. From the work of the four forces - Light, Darkness, Dreams, and Shadows - came all that is, with the Divine watching over all._**

But Chaos, enraged at having this obstacle between itself and the Divine, saw an opportunity to strike at its opposite through its opposite's own creations. Over eons, even as the forces created all facets of reality, it insinuated itself into their ranks, tainting the Balance with Chaos. Eventually the Chaos in the Balance came into full flower, and a war began, a war of politics and force that still goes on. It was the Second Sundering, and as long as it carries on the Balance will never truly be at rest.

We, the Light, have suffered a massive blow in this latest battle of the perpetual imbalance. Our Chosen has fallen, and Darkness rejoices in its victory as we reel. Our champions are exhausted, and we cannot rise again.

But...

The battle still wages. We are not conquered yet. Strike all it wants, the Darkness will not overcome us. Even if all our champions have fallen, we still have the wild card in our hand: the forces of Dreams sent one of their champions to observe the battle, and Dreams have proven unpredictable since before the Second Sundering ever happened...  


**Chapter Thirty: Quarantine**

Somewhere in St. Paul, within his room in the lair of Degas and Alexander, Klaus Engel gathered up his cards and shuffled the Tarot deck, sighing as he did so. "The Hanged Man was tested," he said to himself. "He was at the moment of decision and failed to choose correctly. Such a pity, but fate is that way..."

Klaus's hands stopped, and his good eye's brow raised. "Hmmm?" he muttered to himself, setting the deck down and leaning over it. "That's odd... I can feel a resonation in it. One that I'm not used to... that _he_ was never used to beforehand." He set his hand on the deck, muttered, "Gerald Laxina", and drew the next card, setting it in front of himself.

What he drew made him recoil, blinking a few times. "This card... it has many meanings. Some see it as a card of folly, of mania, of delirium... but the usual interpretation is that of a seeker of knowledge, of one who travels on a quest of self-fulfillment and growth. Some even see the rest of the Major Arcana as that quest illustrated... Both of those meanings apply to one such as him, given his goals."

One hand settled on the floor, and Klaus pushed himself to his feet. "I must tell Degas and Alexander about this," he said to himself. "They have to know about this. It cannot be a good thing that Gerald Laxina's signifier is now the Fool."

**0000000**

The doors of the Great Lakes Ballroom slammed against the walls with a flash of fire as Lucifer Allumette slammed his palm against them, and he rushed into the room, Demetrius in tow with cane at hand. Both stopped for a moment, letting the sight before them sink in, and then they walked into the room, heads down.

Soon, both of them stood over the unconscious, Darkness Infected frame of Gerald Laxina, and both were silent, as there was nothing to be said. Of the Pillar of Death, there was no sign other than a scorch mark a short distance from where Gerald lay. All this did was confirm what the two had feared. Reaching up, Demetrius took his hat and removed it, setting it over his heart.

Something caught Lucifer's eye, and he bent down, picking up a crumpled piece of cardstock. He stood again and looked at it, sighing before showing it to Demetrius. "Ze Servant of Catabolism," he murmured. "Ze Pillar must have destroyed ze card after ze duel."

"What will we do?" the elder duelist said, putting his hat back on.

After a moment, Lucifer reached up, undoing the buttons of his suit's jacket. Two fingers parted the lapel, revealing a roaring fire within the suit's confines. Taking the ruined card, Lucifer slid it into the flames and closed the lapel, pausing for a moment. He then snapped his fingers, and the newly-restored Servant of Catabolism appeared between them.

Demetrius blinked. "Impressive."

"A little Dream trick," Lucifer replied. "Ze spell known as Restore Soul's Anchor, run through ze purifying flames in my own soul." He knelt and straightened Gerald's scattered deck into a more organized pile, setting the Servant atop them. A sigh left his throat as he muttered, "A pity zat is ze best I can do for him. Zis fight is over... and ze Darkness wins."

"Are you serious?" Demetrius asked, his cane fumbling in his grip.

"I am afraid zat is ze case, Monsieur Lark. Laura Vesnic, Sol Kilkarn, Chad Montmelier... and now Gerald Laxina. Zey were ze Light's four major champions in zis battle, and now zey have fallen. Without someone to fight for zem, ze Light is defeated. Ze Balance will never be corrected."

The duelist's knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the cane, other fist clenching. "You can't allow that to happen!"

"I have no choice!" the Beloved of Fire replied, own fist tightening. "I am _Dreams_, Monsieur Lark. We have an... understanding with ze Light, but we are _not_ ze Light. Zis is not my affair. I was sent here to observe and advise, not to duel! If ze Light has fallen, all Dreams can do is react!"

"I'm not asking you to duel! I'm asking you to help Gerald get free from this!" A tear appeared in Demetrius's eye. "We can't just leave him like this!"

Fire flickered on Lucifer's sleeves as he said, voice straining to stay calm, "I... we... have no other options. Freeing him from ze Darkness Infection would breach ze agreements founded long ago, ze ones zat keep Light against Darkness and Dreams against Shadows and prevent ze Balance from collapsing into total war. More to ze point, even if zere were no politics..." He paused.

A light flicked on in Demetrius's mind, and he shook his head. "You're not powerful enough, are you?"

"Beloved of Fire zat I am and powerful as I may be, undoing somezing as powerful as ze Darkness Infection is still beyond me." Lucifer then gave a sarcastic laugh. "Painful as it is to admit, _oui_."

One finger tapped the head of the elder duelist's cane. He then asked, "And transferring it?"

"What are you getting at?"

Moving around Gerald's body, Demetrius briefly paused and knelt, checking his pulse. He then stood again and said, "I'm asking if you could remove the Darkness Infection from one person and transfer it to another."

The question left Lucifer visibly confused, and he tucked his chin into one hand, eyes half-closing as he thought. "Zat... is possible, I believe... but why-" He then went silent and groaned.

Nodding, Demetrius stood up straight and set his cane on the floor, hands clasping over its head. "Transfer it into me. We cannot let Gerald Laxina stay down, and I have no other use at this point."

"Monsieur Lark, did you go _deaf_ when I explained ze situation?" Lucifer shouted, throwing his arms out at his sides. "I cannot free Monsieur Laxina from ze Infection! It would break ze rules!"

"You and your rules!" Demetrius shouted back. "Dash it all, Gerald's your friend as well as the Chosen of the Light! Can you really let your friend rot like this?"

Wincing at the accusion, Lucifer took a deep breath and fought to stay calm, fire dancing on his jacket. "Zis is painful to me as well, Monsieur Lark, but it is not somezing I have a say in. I am not a free agent. Zere are forces I must account to. Dreams keeps an eye on me at all times..."

"But, Lucifer," the human replied, waving a finger, "can you really say this is interference? All you're doing is saving your friend from the horrors of the Darkness Infection by passing it on to someone who volunteered for the job. Is that all so bad?"

"Yes," Lucifer said as his eyes narrowed. "Dreams will never let me get away with such a loophole. And zey _invented_ loopholes, so zey know a poor rationalization when zey see it."

Crestfallen, Demetrius muttered, "Blast."

But even as he turned away, head down, Lucifer shut his eyes. Deep within himself, his loyalty to Dreams and his loyalty to his friends waged war, his mind a blur. _Vivienne would never have had this problem,_ he thought. _Stefan, either - he would have made the transfer in a heartbeat. Niccolai, perhaps, would have trouble... but even he would have chosen Gerald in the end. And all three of them inherited that quality from me._

Stepping around Gerald, Lucifer set his hand on Demetrius's shoulder, wincing as he said, "I _will_ regret zis later, but for now... you are right. I cannot let a friend suffer like zis. Let us do the transfer."

With a nod, Demetrius clapped Lucifer on the back, saying, "Good man!"

"Do not call me zat," the Beloved of Fire replied. "I would prefer not to zink of myself in human terms for a while." He then moved onto one knee beside Gerald's prone form, setting his hand on the young man's chest. "Give me your hand."

One of Demetrius's hands slid into Lucifer's, and he noted, "Smooth..."

"Fire tends to burn off ze calluses. Now be silent." Shutting his eyes and concentrating, Lucifer began to mutter under his breath. His utterences made no sense to Demetrius, as they were all in Mythos, but they sounded like a string of prayers and chants, all aimed at a greater - if slightly indifferent - power than him.

The marks of the Darkness Infection on Gerald's neck began to bubble, leaking away through his skin as if melting. They flowed away from their source, and the ones on his hands followed suit, leaking down from his hands and up his arms. Both sets of markings vanished under Gerald's clothes, and then a string of black fire wrapped around Lucifer's arms and struck Demetrius's hand.

Pulling away from Lucifer, Demetrius staggered, dropping his cane. The marks of the Darkness Infections sprang to life on his hands and neck, and he had just enough time to mutter "Oh, blimey" before he collapsed.

Standing up again, the Beloved of Fire lowered his head, whispering, "Now to wait for my punishment..."

**_Lucifer Allumette!_**

Lucifer's eyes went wide. "Zat was quick."

And there was a tremendous flash of fire as Lucifer disappeared.

**0000000**

Somewhere in St. Paul, Degas and Alexander had retreated from the mirror room. Now they, Hanzaki, and Bethany sat around a round table in an otherwise empty room, a single light shining on the ceiling. At the center of the table sat a number of graphs and calculations; a thin notebook sat in front of Degas, and he occasionally looked to it. Bethany rested her chin on her clasped hands, looking to Alexander, who had his arms crossed in front of him and was still frowning.

"Now that we have Minnesota secure," Degas said as he rechecked a sheet of paper on the table, "we have to consider our expansion plans. Our first priority is getting more dark energy into our hands... powering our next stage will require more than we can safely harness from the Dark Conduit."

Alexander, the Dark Conduit in question, gave a derisive chuckle. "At least without killing me..." Seeing a frightened expression flash across Bethany's face, he turned to her and added, "That was a joke."

Behind his sunglasses, Degas rolled his eyes before saying, "Harvesting that energy will not be a problem. The spell I cast has come to a satisfactory conclusion earlier. Hanzaki?"

The messenger looked up from the book he was reading (a pocket-sized edition of On Walden Pond) and said, "Yes?"

"Go to Haiti and carry out Plan V. Regardless of the outcome, you should be able to return with the dark energy we need."

Nodding, Hanzaki slipped the book into the pouch behind the symbol on his chest, rising from his seat and bowing. "As you command. But for Plan V I'll need..."

The man in black raised one hand, slipped a hand into his shirt pocket, and took out a Duel Monsters card with no picture or name. This he tossed to the man in green, who caught it and sighed, rolling back his shirt cuffs.

Blinking, Bethany asked, "Where did you get a card like that?"

"It involved a considerable amount of forgery," Alexander explained as black energy began to dance around his fingertips, "but we convinced Industrial Illusions to send us a number of card templates that hadn't gone through the final printing. They make it easy to 'burn' a Card of Night." He set his index finger to the cardstock and winced as the energy shot out from his finger, coursing through the blank card.

A few seconds later, the border of the card turned black, and a very disturbing picture appeared on it, the name and text writing themselves in red ink. He handed the card to Hanzaki, who bowed and disappeared as the air blurred.

Once the messenger had left, Degas returned to the notebook and muttered to himself for a minute before nodding. "With that dark energy, we can finish preparing the second wave and expand the shield to encompass most of the United States. After that, however, we'll have to deal with the would-be heroes."

With a gulp, Bethany asked, "You mean Yugi Motoh?"

"Eventually," the Hand of Darkness replied. "But there is no way that the Three Heroes will let this pass without coming to interfere. Even with Reston, we can't guarantee our success against them, especially if the Light tries to use them as its next move. For that reason, we'll need the second wave ready as soon as possible."

The Dark Conduit added, "Once we have the Three Heroes out of the way, then we will have to turn our attention to Yugi Motoh and his friends. Judging by what happened during the Orichalcos incident, our best chance will be to find a way to separate him and the Pharaoh."

"That's something I've wanted to ask for a while," the young woman then said, eyebrow raised. "Which faction was the Orichalcos part of?"

Both men, to her complete surprise, shuddered, and Degas crossed himself involuntarily before staring at his hand. Shaking it out, he answered, "None. The Orichalcos was beyond the Balance - it was pure, undiluted Chaos. Had it won, and I seriously doubt it could have, the Balance would have shattered to a thousand pieces." He then shook again, adding, "Some things, Bethany, are purely evil. Even if I had the chance I wouldn't use the Orichalcos. That power is _not_ worth the price."

Alexander was about to say something, but he paused just as he opened his mouth. His eyes shut, and he put one hand to his forehead, as if something had gone off in his mind. He then opened his eyes wide, whispering, "How?"

"Something wrong, Alexander?" Bethany asked, turning and resting one hand on her lover's shoulder.

"That isn't possible, but I'm sensing..." He shook his head. "Something's gone wrong outside."

As he said it, Klaus appeared in the doorway, adjusting his eyepatch. Degas turned and walked over to him. They exchanged a few words, and then the man in black turned to the others and said, "The mirror room. **Now.**"

The room soon emptied.

**0000000**

When a person wakes up, their brain takes several seconds to reload who they are, where they are, and other such vital information. Acquiring further details - such as what happened the previous night - takes several more minutes, as the brain reactivates key areas of the memory. This post-awakening amnesia is believed by some to be the body's way of ensuring you do not wake up screaming.

So it was that as Gerald Laxina opened his eyes, several seconds passed before he remembered his name and that he was lying on the floor in the Great Lakes Ballroom. He rolled onto his side and pushed his upper body off of the floor, one hand touching in his head as he felt a mild throbbing in his skull. "What..." he muttered.

The parts of his brain that held the knowledge of his last duel flicked on, and he went pale as he remembered his last experience - Reston, touching his head and muttering, "No more pain. Sleep."

_I must have become infected,_ Gerald thought. _That is why I was on the floor... but why am I awake now? Did someone defeat Reston?_ He struggled onto his knees, and then paused as he saw his deck, neatly stacked amind what little remained of his Duel Disk.

A memory flared to life in his synapses - a memory of his cards raining down around him as his Duel Disk fell to pieces. He frowned, and turned over the top card of the stack. It was the Servant of Catabolism; another memory came to him now, one of Reston snatching that card out of the air and crushing it in his hand.

_Something strange happened while I was a Darkness Infected,_ Gerald thought, sliding the deck into his pocket and standing up again. His knees briefly gave out, and he stumbled backwards, stepping onto a large human shape on the floor...

An outside observer could be forgiven for thinking Gerald teleported at that point, for he did not appear to have physically moved from one point to another. He turned around, caught his breath, and looked at what he had stepped on. And then he had a very bad suspicion as to what had transpired.

He had stepped on the prone, unmoving form of Demetrius Lark. The older duelist was stretched out on the floor, cane and hat alongside him, and his hands and neck showed the signs of the Darkness Infection. Near him sat a giant scorchmark, twice the size of the mark left by Reston's teleportation.

Gerald frowned, setting his hand to his chin. _That scorch mark must be from Lucifer,_ he thought. _That leaves two possibilities. First, that Reston defeated both Demetrius and Lucifer, and whatever happened to Lucifer left that massive scorchmark. This is possible, but I doubt it - Lucifer's loyalties are to Dreams, and thus Reston would never have touched him. And it doesn't explain what happened to me._

He paused, and then thought on, _That leaves the other possibility, which I think more likely... that Lucifer transferred my Darkness Infection into Demetrius, and the forces of Dreams are punishing him for it now. I don't know what to say to that... But either way..._

Kneeling next to Demetrius, Gerald moved him into the recovery position and stood up, frown deepening. He then walked out of the Great Lakes Ballroom, making his way through Camp Snoopy. The young man stepped out of the south exit, and then sank to his knees, shutting his eyes. A series of long sighs passed through him.

"This..." He paused, and then laughed "I wonder how you go about this. I haven't prayed in a while." He then crossed his wrists in front of him and began to speak: "Light... All those I hold dear now suffer at the hands of the Darkness. The enemy is too powerful for me to face alone, but I dare not risk the safety of anyone else in this battle. I know your power is stretched tight, but I ask you... In the name of Light, grant me a share of your strength, that I might wield it against the Darkness and free the people dear to me from its torments."

Something clicked inside Gerald, and he raised an eyebrow, eyes still closed. He could sense something hovering over him, and unconsciously raised his hands, palms up. And then something stepped inside of him, and his eyes snapped open, pupils turned white. Rising to his feet, he turned his thoughts inward, and then sensed another presence. It did not seem a hostile one.

_What are you?_ Gerald asked silently.

The other presence did not respond at first. It seemed uncomfortable in Gerald's mind, and pulsed a few times in confusion. But with each pulse, a jolt of raw energy passed along Gerald's nerves, and he felt more and more power welling up in his being.

_As long as you do not try to take over my actions, we will get along fairly well,_ the young man eventually said. _We will battle Reston soon enough, but first I need to prepare. Now that I know what he uses, I should be able to counteract it._

Although the other presence still did not speak, it gave him a sense of approval.

**0000000**

The instant contact was made, Degas and Alexander turned to each other, panic running on a current between them. Bethany, out of the loop, could only press herself tighter to Alexander and wait for them to explain.

She had no need to wait long. "The Light must be desperate," Degas said, looking back to the mirrors. "They've sent one of their servants to channel itself through Gerald's body. It's an effective method of granting strength to the Chosen without expending personal power, but if he loses they could lose that servant altogether..."

"I doubt they had a choice," Alexander replied. "The Reciprocal still stands, and the Light has exhausted all of its power from the last fulfillment. Demetrius defeating Mako barely gave it enough power to form the channeling link."

"Understandable... Identify who he is channeling."

Shutting his eyes, the man in green placed one hand to his forehead... and then let out a groan and fell back against his chair. As Bethany moved closer to him in fright, he slid his arm around her and stroked her back, saying, "They've shielded Gerald's mind. I couldn't even get close enough to sense a possible identity."

The man in black turned back to the mirrors, eyes narrowing through his sunglasses. "We had best be prepared to switch to the back-up plan, then."

**0000000**

On the second floor of the Mall of America, Gerald pushed open the door of Air Traffic, one of the two major hobby and game shops in the building, the other being Games by James. Making his way to the back and stepping over the prone Darkness Infected, he moved behind the counter and took down a box of Duel Monsters boosters. This he poured out onto the counter and looked over, turning the different booster packs over in his hands.

_I can't afford to leave the Mall,_ he thought, _but I also need to build a more effective deck. However, there's no guarantee I'll find a single card worth using against the Pillar of Death in these packs..._ why _did they have to close Wizards of the Coast?_

Suddenly, his eyes glowed, and Gerald found himself looking at... and then through... one pack. He looked closer, and then saw every individual card within it.

Turning his thoughts inward, Gerald asked the other presence in his mind, _Did you do this?_

The presence was silent at first, but then finally spoke, its voice deep and rich. **Yes,** it said. **You seek to destroy a force of such darkness that the heavens themselves grow sick at his passing. I will aid you in forging the weapon you need to slay him.**

_I thank you._ He chose one pack in particular and opened it, taking out the cards. _But... who are you?_

**Would you truly know who I was?**

_No, but I would know who to thank._

**You make a good point.** The voice was silent for a moment, and then slowly spoke. **I am known as Raziel, the Crusader. I am one of the servants of Sandalphon, the Observer of Elysian and the greatest force of Light that exists. When you asked for our aid, I chose to channel my power through you. Your quest to destroy Reston appealed to me.**

_Then I thank you, Raziel._ Gerald took the cards from another booster pack and looked through them. A plan began to form in his head...

**0000000**

A stillness hung over the mirror room somewhere in St. Paul, and then Degas said, "Alexander?"

"Yes?" Alexander replied.

"Prepare the back-up plan."

**0000000**

A few minutes after entering Air Traffic, Gerald left it, shuffling his new deck in his hands. He had left money for the boosters he had used on the counter, and several cards from his other deck were used to supplement them. "This," he said to himself, "cannot be said to be perfect, since perfection is impossible... but it's as close as I can come. I cannot lose."

**Watch your words,** Raziel said within him. **Self-indulgent praise and overconfidence are the marks of Asmodeus and his kind. While you may take pride in your skill - if you were weak I would not grant you my power - do not let hubris overtake you. You have lost once, remember.**

The young man lowered his head, chastened. _You speak truth._ He then took a moment to look over his clothes. As always, he wore a gray long-sleeved shirt, long gray pants (these with blue stripes on their legs) and a thin gray jacket, along with the arm straps from his now-destroyed Duel Disk. A look of disgust ran over him, and he thought to Raziel, _Do you mind a detour? I feel a change in appearance is in order._

**Indeed,** Raziel replied. **No man who follows the Light should wear that much gray. Gray is the color of the unsure.**

The next half-hour was spent in relative silence, as Gerald traveled from one floor to another, moving from shop to shop. His footsteps echoed around the otherwise quiet building, until finally he was finished.

Setting down the bag containing his old clothes, Gerald let out a deep breath, adjusting the straps on his arm. He now wore a short-sleeved, shining blue shirt, a deeper blue vest over the top of that. Fingerless white motorcycle gloves sat on his hands, and he had donned a pair of white jeans, held in place with a black leather belt; he had gone so far as to trade his loafers for white atheletic shoes. For the final touch, he flicked open a pair of smoked-lens sunglasses and slid them into place, adjusting one arm.

**Fashion was never my field,** Raziel said in Gerald's mind with a hint of approval in his words. **That is the playground of Dreams. But I must say... you cut a striking image of a modern-day knight in that outfit.**

_I thank you,_ Gerald replied, stroking his fingers through his perpetually-disheveled brown hair. _The last piece is missing, though... _He held up the deck he had constructed and sighed. "I need a Duel Disk," he said aloud. "I suppose I could always borrow Chad's or Sol's... It's not like they're using them."

Raziel then interrupted him: **No, Chosen of the Light. Now I shall grant you a gift from the Light, a reward for your continued service... reluctant as it may be at times. Hold out your arm.**

With a blink, Gerald held out his left arm. The straps on that arm began to glow, and then energy flowed from nowhere, pouring onto his extended limb...

For a moment, pain wracked his arm, and he fell to his knees, arm still outstretched. And then a flash filled the air, barely cut down by his sunglasses...

...and a new Duel Disk sat on his arm, firmly connected to the straps he had worn in its spot. It was a clear, crystalline blue, white veins running through its surface and forming what he knew as the seal for a Duel of Light just in front of the deck slot. Its body was shaped more like a shield than the usual circle; the arm was a curved affair, and the whole of the device had the appearance of a weapon as well as a tool.

"It's..." Gerald gulped. "It's beautiful..."

**And as long as you serve the Light, it shall be yours,** Raziel said in reply. **It was partially forged from the light in your soul. Now... name it.**

Going silent, Gerald gave the matter careful thought. "I must give such a beautiful weapon a proper name," he said to himself. "A foolish or silly name would demean it. Wait... There's a word in German, one that has no English counterpart, that means a deep longing or nostalgia. C.S. Lewis used it to describe a specific need and yearning... And it has a nice sound to it..."

Placing his deck into the deck slot, Gerald set his other hand on the Duel Disk and announced, "I dub this Duel Disk Sehnsucht, the Longing for Heaven."

**A fine name,** Raziel said in his mind. **Now let us go and strike down the Pillar of Death.**

_Yes,_ Gerald said simply. He then paused for a moment before muttering aloud, "I wonder if this will work..." Shutting his eyes, he concentrated.

To his pleasant surprise, he could feel an oily, cold sensation in his mind, which he soon realized was the Darkness. This he traced throughout the building, hunting the largest single source... and he found it on the first floor's West Market. "Reston."

And so he headed for the escalator.

**0000000**

With Gerald's defeat, the Pillar of Death had taken a moment for himself. Calling on other powers of his, the ill man teleported to the first floor's East Broadway rotunda. This large, circular area was where the various special events were held, and where they erected various sets and other such things. When he had struck the mall, however, the rotunda was empty.

This ceased to be the case when Reston arrived. Once he had his bearings, the Pillar of Death held out his hands and made a series of specific gestures, pulling inward with his mind.

There was a powerful yank, and then the Darkness Infected staggered to their feet, never actually awakening. All throughout the first floor they rose, making their way towards where the urge called to them. Each one made its way to Reston in due time, and then collapsed to the ground as the Pillar cut off his input.

In due time, the Pillar of Death had assembled a ring of Darkness Infected around the rotunda, which for all appearances looked like a pile of corpses. He rather liked the image. Making his way to the center, he placed his hand on the floor and concentrated.

The floor cracked open, and from the ground rose a large, ornate chair. This being Reston, the chair was made entirely of human bones. The Pillar of Death settled into his ghastly throne and relaxed, his breathing more normal now than at any point since before he became a Pillar.

This situation still held as Gerald Laxina arrived at East Broadway, stepping over one particular Darkness Infected. Reston had pulled another onto his lap and was probing at the young woman's flesh with the flat side of his scalpel. "Would be wrong to kill for specimen," he whispered. "But... so curious..."

"Set her down," Gerald said, snapping his fingers.

For the first time since Gerald had seen the Pillar of Death, Reston was startled, and the young woman fell from his arms. Spinning about, the sick man regained his seat, empty eyes glaring into Gerald's. "Awake. How?"

"A very long story, involving a number of sacrifices I will have to pay back."

Reston's eyes fell on Sehnsucht, and one of his eyebrows rose. "Impressive. Destroy one Duel Disk and another in place. Wonder if same goes for arms?"

"If you want to find that out, duel me," Gerald replied, adjusting his shades. "I challenge you again, Reston. But this time, the stakes are different. If you lose, you die, in a method decided by the card that kills you..."

"And?" Reston replied.

The Chosen of the Light paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "If I lose, then I will die instead. But... You will choose the manner and time of my death. To put it another way, I will be your test subject."

As Gerald had thought, the Pillar of Death's eyes went wide, and his fingers twitched. It was only a few seconds before Reston held out one arm, the Darkness already gathering around it. "Indeed. Stakes accepted. Duel begin..."

Holding out his hand, Gerald nodded. "Indeed." And he snapped his fingers.

The seal on Sehnsucht glowed brightly, and a circle of light drew itself around the two duelists, its edges behind Gerald's feet and the base of Reston's throne. Within this circle, several more lines drew themselves, forming a seal that was similar to but subtly different from the seal of a Dark Duel. The lines glowed quietly as Reston's Duel Disk finished forming.

The Pillar of Death looked down, shuddered slightly, and then looked at Gerald as he said, "Duel of Light?"

"Precisely," Gerald replied, activating his Duel Disk.

Reston activated his, and both Life Point counters rose to 8,000.

As the duelists drew their opening hands, Gerald began by announcing, "I will open this duel. And I do so by playing the Continuous Magic Card Prohibition." He slid the card into his Duel Disk, explaining, "Any one card is off-limits while this card is active, preventing either of us from using it. I choose Ekibyo Drakmord."

The floor in front of Gerald rippled, and then a sign sprang out of the ground. A crude drawing of Ekibyo Drakmord's art in a circle with a line through it was drawn on the sign, and it radiated a faint energy.

"Next," Gerald continued, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn. Your move, Reston." His eyes seemed to flash white as he said it.

Before Reston drew his first card of the duel, he paused, feeling an unusual surge of trepidation. _Odd,_ he thought. _New sensation. Called... foreboding?_ He drew, and then slid a card into his Duel Disk, announcing, "Set card facedown..." Pausing, he then added, "Play Dark Snake Syndrome."

As it had so many times before, the familiar black, vaguely serpentine marks of the disease burned themselves into the two duelists. Gerald sweated for a moment, but seemed otherwise unshaken. Reston was more disturbed by that than the feelings the disease instilled in him.

"Set monster in Defense Mode," Reston said after that, "and end turn."

Drawing his next card, Gerald held it up and studied it for a moment before nodding and playing it. "I play Dark Designator," he said. "I now name any one card, and if it exists in your deck you must add it to your hand. I will name Giant Germ."

"You know in deck," the Pillar of Death grumbled, even as he took his deck from the slot and searched through it, adding the card to his hand. Inwardly, however, he thought, _Timing best possible. Already have Lytic Cycle in hand. Can inflict chain of damage on him next turn._

"Next," Gerald continued, pressing a button on Sehnsucht, "I activate my facedown card, Lightforce Sword. One card in your hand will be pinned out of it for the next three turns..." A glowing sword rose in front of Gerald, and he took it by the hilt, hefting it back. "Let's see if luck is on my side."

He then snapped his arm forward, hurling the sword at Reston. Its blade pierced through one of his cards, carrying it away from both of them. As the blade hit the Duel of Light's perimeter, it and its impaled target dissipated into white sparks.

_Lytic Cycle hit,_ the Pillar thought, eyes narrowing. _Curse luck._

Taking one more card from his hand, Gerald placed it on his Duel Disk, a smile briefly crossing his face before his eyes flashed again. "Now... You may be familiar with this monster. I summon my Des Wombat in Attack Mode."

A ball of light formed on Gerald's field, and then shattered into white shards, revealing the small, snuffling beast he had summoned. It had the typical wombat expression on its face, one that could only be described as the visual equivalent of "Huh?" Curling slightly, it scratched at its chin with one foot. (1,600/300)

Even though the wombat is as innocuous-looking a lifeform as has ever walked the earth, the Pillar of Death could only stare at it, entire body tensing and eyes wide, unblinking.

"I wonder why you look like that," Gerald said, holding his chin in one hand. "Oh, right... because as long as my Des Wombat is in play, I take no damage from card effects. Which means that nothing your deck could possibly do could even scratch me." His eyes glowed, and his voice seemed to grow deeper. "That feeling in your heart is what men call fear." His voice returned to normal as the Chosen of the Light concluded, "My turn ends."

Within his chest, Reston could feel his heart rate suddenly spike. He tried to get it under control, hand resting on his chest, but his efforts were fruitless. And with good reason. _No... cannot be..._ He took a deep breath, causing his lungs to protest. _Only two cards in deck that can destroy monster already in play: Ekibyo Drakmord and True Face of Death. Cannot play former, and latter out of reach._ Exhaling, the Pillar drew.

"Dark Snake Syndrome activates now," Gerald pointed out. "You take 200 points of damage. I take nothing."

Reston's hands fumbled, cards scattering in his grip, as the Dark Snake Syndrome activated. But it wasn't the pain caused as the disease flared to life, attacking his body's cells, that caused him to shake where he sat, eyes reddening slightly. That effect was caused by seeing a bubble of clear energy surround Gerald, originating from the Des Wombat, and seeing the black marks of the syndrome fade.

The Pillar's Life Points lowered to 7,800, and he blinked, looking at his hand. _This still deck built to counter Chosen,_ he thought. _But... Chosen using new deck. Should have switched after duel. Damn._ "Sacrifice facedown Bubonic Vermin to summon Patrician of Darkness," he declared.

For a moment, the small, skittering rodent appeared on Reston's field, and then swelled up as the light of the seal beneath it shone on it. It grew larger, cancers developing on its skin, and then exploded into a cloud of black pus and blood. This swirled upwards and formed into the undead nobleman, hand holding his cloak closed and a smile on his lips, exposing pointed fangs. (2,000/1,400) Only then did the Patrician see the seal at his feet, and he recoiled slightly, pulling the cloak over his face.

"You think you're going to attack, don't you?" Gerald said, pressing a button on Sehnsucht. "No. I activate Spellbinding Circle, sealing it in place."

The light flashed, and the seal of the Duel of Light pulled in slightly, pulsing inward. A second circle of light flashed in, rising up from the zombie's feet. It formed the lines of the Spellbinding Circle within itself, and the Patrician of Darkness froze in place.

A growl escaped Reston's lips as he took a card from his hand - Michizure - and set it into his Duel Disk, murmuring, "Set facedown and end turn."

Drawing his own next card, Gerald paused and stroked the Des Wombat's head, causing the rather lazy animal to look up at him. He then played the card, declaring, "Pot of Greed." Drawing two more cards, he played another. "Now I play Footsteps of the Goddess..."

Overhead, the upper floors and ceiling of the Mall of America disappeared, replaced by a glowing sky. From within this sky came a small ball of light, which began to float down. Between the duelists, the ground became a ring of flowers, daffodils, tulips, and lilies mixed among them.

As the ball of light reached the ground, it glowed brighter, and soon a beautiful woman stood there. She dressed in flowing blue clothing, hands clasped in front of her, and gave both duelists a beatific smile. Deep within his heart, Reston felt the first pang of regret he had felt in over a decade.

"The card's effect is as follows," Gerald explained. "First, I look at your hand and choose any one monster within it that has 1,500 or fewer Attack Points. That monster is then Special Summoned. As you only have one card in your hand that qualifies, and I already know about it, just Special Summon your Giant Germ."

Taking the card thus named, Reston slid it onto his Duel Disk. The goddess clapped twice, and a shimmering rainbow-colored light flashed in front of Reston, forming into the purple spore protecting an inner core of pathogens. (1,000/100) With a giggle, the goddess stroked its outer core, causing it to bob in midair.

Holding up his hand, Gerald nodded and took a card, continuing, "As per the effect, I may Special Summon such a monster myself. I choose Newdoria."

Again the goddess clapped, and a wave of rainbow-colored light flashed in front of Gerald. It formed into a pathetically thin, shriveled, orange-skinned man with green hair, dressed in leather and with a studded band around its eyes. This was a familiar monster to both of them, as it was Reston's Image. (1,200/1,200) The goddess giggled again, patting Newdoria's cheek before she vanished, the mall returning to normal in her wake.

"That monster... why play that?" Reston asked.

For a long moment, Gerald paused, shutting his eyes. He reached for a card in hand, fingers twitching as he did so, and then stopped, frowning.

**Why the hesitation, Chosen?** Raziel asked in his mind. **You built this deck to slay the Pillar of Death. Your weapon is at hand, and I assure you it cannot fail as long as I guide your strike. Now use it! Strike him down!**

Gerald gulped, and then thought back, _But... I just realized the stakes. If I play this card, Reston will die. Can I really kill a man like this? Especially when I never gave him a fighting chance?_

**Did he ever give you one?**

_No... at least, he did not intend to. But our duel was close, and had he not drawn his True Face card I would have overcome him. This... I've pinned him into a corner, and now I'm going to kill him... That isn't even the same situation._

Raziel's tone changed, the anger in it fading, and he thought to Gerald, **Chosen... Think. Reston was a killer before you ever met him. He would have killed that woman had you not stopped him. He would die even if the stakes weren't his death - he said as such to you when you first made the challenge. No power would condemn you for ending his life here, and if you do it now, you end his life with a single blow instead of the million cuts of his disease.**

_You speak the truth,_ Gerald admitted, taking up his card. "Reston. I will now kill you."

"With one card?" the Pillar of Death said, leaning forward in his throne of bones.

"Yes..." Feeling Raziel's strength guiding him, Gerald slid the card into his Duel Disk. "I play One-Slash Kill - Sword Draw." The card appeared, showing a hand drawing a sword.

A sheathed katana appeared on Gerald's left hip, hilt pointed outward, and he reached down with his left hand, wrapping it around the scabbard and tilting it down. His Duel Disk glowed, and he reached for his deck, moving one card after another into his Graveyard slot.

Blinking, Reston asked, "What that for?"

Gerald replied as the last card moved, "There are nine cards on the field. The first effect of One-Slash Kill makes me discard that many cards from the top of my deck; in this case, I discard nine. I must then draw one more card when all this is down..." He took hold of it and drew it out.

A long silence later, the Pillar asked again, "What for?"

"If it is anything but another copy of One-Slash Kill - Sword Draw, I have wasted eleven cards. If it is the One-Slash Kill, I discard that card as well... and then destroy every card in play and take off 1,000 Life Points from you for each one. That's enough to kill you."

Reston shivered, retreating back into his throne and turning pale. His arms raised in front of him.

Only now did Gerald look at his drawn card, sighing and turning it towards Reston. It showed a hand drawing a sword. He threw the card in the air...

...and before it ever reached the ground, his right hand shot to his sword's hilt, and he drew it, flicked it across the field, and returned it to the scabbard in one smooth motion. As he resheathed it, he stopped just before the sword clicked into place.

Having shut his eyes, Reston waited... and waited... and then uncurled from where he had cowered, sitting up again. He could see thin lines on all of the monsters, the signs of Prohibition, the facedown cards, and his shirt, but they didn't seem to have any ill effects. He began to scratch his head...

Exhaling, Gerald whispered, "_Ichigeki Hissatsu... Iai._" He clicked the sword into the scabbard.

For one second, nothing moved. And then the Prohibition signs slipped on their posts, toppling over and falling to the ground. The Des Wombat slid apart on a diagonal, its eyes going wide as it fell in two, and a thin stream of green ichor dribbled from the Newdoria's stomach as it let out a cry of shock, its upper half falling off of the lower half.

The Spellbinding Circle around the Patrician of Darkness cracked in half and shattered, but that was not a comfort for the zombie - one of his arms dropped from its elbow, and ectoplasm burst from his mouth before he folded inward, bisected. Soon the Patrician was little more than a crumpled pile of ashes wrapped in black and red cloth. All of Reston's facedown cards and the Dark Snake Syndrome then slid apart along the lines.

And then the Pillar of Death realized what was coming next. He opened his mouth to speak, but never finished the first word.

The cut on his shirt opened wider, and then blood sprayed outwards from his chest in one prolonged burst. Reston choked on his words, and then another burst of blood flew from his back, staining the back of his chair. He tried to stand, but then his legs gave out, and he fell to the ground, Life Point counter plunging straight to zero before the entire Duel Disk evaporated.

All around them, the seal of the Duel of Light flared, and every sign of the Darkness Infected vanished in a second's time from the people surrounding both duelists.

Silence carried for a second, and then Gerald walked up to his prone opponent, the sound of his shoes on tile the only sound as he approached the dying Pillar of Death. "Victory," he said, eyes flashing white. "All four Pillars have fallen. The Light is victorious."

"Hah..." Reston replied, lifting his head. Tears of blood rolled down his cheeks, and crimson stains covered the left half of his face. "So foolish... thought Pillars were all of Darkness.." Even as more blood covered the floor, the dying man managed a chuckle. "Was servant, not master. Pillars just beginning."

"I know this," Gerald said, raising an eyebrow. He inched back to avoid getting blood on his shoes. "Why do you repeat it?"

"You _forget._ Pillars just servants. Masters far worse... but you know. You know names of masters." Reston's next attempt to laugh was cut off as he spat up blood. "All effort... misguided..."

Taking a deep breath, Gerald crouched, touching Reston's forehead. He then sighed. "I didn't want to kill you, but..."

"_Shut up." _The Pillar of Death glared, even as his head settled back on the floor, and gave Gerald's arm a feeble slap. "Wanted to. _Needed_ to. _Did._ Do not lie. Sought nothing more than death of Pillar. Do not give pl-pl-platitudes now..." One last shudder ran through Reston's body, and then his eyes began closing, even as he murmured, "Pain gone... so long with pain forgot what absence feels like..."

His eyes never finished closing. Reston laid there, eyes glazing over, and his body ceased moving. It was over.

As Gerald rose to his feet, he could hear Raziel's voice in his mind, tone approving. **You have done it. The Pillar of Death is slain, and the Light claims victory once more. Our task is complete, and thus shall I return to Elysian...** And then the presence was gone from his consciousness.

Now fully himself again, Gerald looked at Reston's body... and then fell to his knees on the floor. His stomach recoiled, and he pitched onto his hands, throwing up.

**0000000**

Almost the second that Reston died, Degas rose from his chair and glanced to Alexander. The younger man trembled for a moment, and then rose as well, adjusting his jacket and sighing. Bethany rose with him, clinging to her beloved's arm as the three left the mirror room.

They arrived in a completely blank room, the only light coming from the open door. Everything was perfectly black, unformed and - much to Alexander's disgust - slightly sticky.

The group approached the center of this room, and then Degas stopped them. Without warning, he grabbed Alexander's arm and concentrated, sucking dark energy from him. Bethany gasped, holding Alexander up as the man in green groaned, muttering, "You could have asked..."

"Silence," the man in black replied, pushing his sunglasses up. "The Pillar of Death is gone. The Light has proven it is perfectly willing to have his servants channel their powers through Gerald... and they started with Raziel. They started with the Crusader, Alexander. That's how much power they're focusing into this Chosen."

Even as he nodded, arm bearing a black mark in the shape of Degas's hand, Alexander muttered, "Be that as it may, don't you think we're overreacting a little?"

The Hand of Darkness shook his head. "No. Our primary plans are at risk as long as the Chosen continues to act. We have to stop him now. For that reason..." He paused, as much to catch his breath as for dramatic purposes. "Alexander, you must now duel Gerald."

Although Bethany gave a slight gasp, all the Dark Conduit did was nod, arms crossing. "I see... Until Hanzaki finishes his assignment, we have no other way to directly confront them, and sending more Darkness Infected would be like sending infantry against something that just blew up your tanks. And..." He sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, I have wanted to do this."

Nodding in return, Degas then snapped his fingers. A deck of Duel Monsters cards appeared on his hand, and he held it out. "Use this."

"Oh?" Alexander replied, taking the deck and shuffling through it. "This trick, I see..."

"Yes... we can't afford to have you use your real deck against him."

"Why not?" Bethany asked. Neither of the men answered her, and she turned pale, thinking, _I don't think I would want to know the answer, then..._

After a pause of a few seconds, Degas held up his hand, the dark energy crackling around it. "I will go prepare the second wave. Alexander... regardless of the outcome, you know what to do. Do not hesitate." Although his eyes were invisible through his sunglasses, there was the sense he was glaring.

Turning on his heel, Degas left the room.

Once they were alone, Alexander slid his arms around Bethany and drew her close, kissing her rather deeply. She showed no surprise, instead returning his affections and embrace. This lasted for only a moment before he released her, adjusted his shirt sleeves, and said, "Go back to our room, Bethany. You don't want to see what is about to happen."

Although her face held no end of misgivings, Bethany did not disobey. She nodded and left, leaving Alexander alone in the unfinished room.

With a long sigh, Alexander turned his thoughts inward and began to shape the room around himself, dark energy crackling around his form.

**0000000**

In a restroom on the first floor of the Mall of America, Gerald Laxina bent over a sink, hot water running over his hands. He was probably scalding himself, but he had trouble caring about that. Even though he had managed to avoid getting any blood on his clothing, he could still feel a cold, greasy stain on his body, and going deeper yet. He had, after all, killed another human being.

_It didn't feel this way when I defeated Jacob Waterknot,_ Gerald thought, finally pulling his hands from the hot water and changing the taps around. Now the water was frigid, and he shoved his hands back under the flow, chilling away the pain. _But when I dueled Jacob, he arranged circumstances himself such that they would kill him on a defeat. This time... I set the stakes. _I _chose to kill Reston. And in such a grotesque manner..._

He splashed cold water on his face, shaking his head. _Nobody said being a Chosen of the Light would be a pacifist's road. I have to get over this. Besides, Reston had blood on his own hands as well... and he told me he would die either way. But his statement about his masters..._

Gerald sighed, turning off the water and pulling a paper towel out of the dispenser, drying his hands. "Enough of this," he said. "Laura, Chad, and Sol are all free... and the Mall of America is no longer controlled by the Darkness. That's all that matters at this point." He then paused, blushing slightly. "I just listed Laura first."

Before he could follow that train of thought any further, there was a crackling noise in the restroom. A black line drew itself beside him, and it irised open, revealing a portal of black energy. Through it, Gerald could see a place he had never expected to see again.

"The hell?" he muttered. He then rubbed his eyes and thought, _Reston did mention his masters. I suppose they want to see me personally._ His hands retrieved his deck from Sehnsucht, and he began to swap cards back out, rebuilding it into its old self.

A moment later, Gerald walked through the portal, which closed behind him.

**FOOTSTEPS OF THE GODDESS**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A beautiful winged woman, surrounded by sparkles of light, stepping down into a ring of flowers.  
Effect: Look at your opponet's hand. Select 1 monster in your opponent's hand with an ATK of 1500 point sor less that can be Special Summoned and Special Summon it to the opponent's side of the field in face-up Attack Position. Afterwards, you can Special Summon 1 monster in your hand with an ATK of 1500 or less to your side of the field in Attack Position. The monsters Special Summoned by this card's effect cannot attack during this turn.

**ONE SLASH KILL! SWORD DRAW**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: A hand drawing a sword from its sheath.  
Effect: Send cards from your Deck to the Graveyard equal to the total number of cards on the field. Afterwards, draw one card from your deck. If that card is One-Slash Kill! Sword Draw, send that card to the Graveyard, and destroy all cards on the field. For each card destroyed and sent to the Graveyard in this way, inflict 1,000 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points. When this card is activated, it cannot be destroyed by the effects of Magic, Trap, or Monster effects, nor can this card be negated.  
_Note: Both of the above cards were used by Lucian in the GX episode "Don't Fear the Reaper". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode. The name used for the latter card is the original Japanese name; in the dubbed version, it is called "Slash Draw"._

_Coming next chapter: Gerald confronts Alexander._

No, I can't tell you anything else. Even the title would be a spoiler.


	32. Blood Feud

_**The story goes as such: two brothers, Romulus and Remus, were abandoned as infants. They were found and raised by a she-wolf (or a prostitute - they're the same word in Latin) and grew into manhood. Gathering supporters, they raised a great city. But when it came time to name it, they had a dispute, and Romulus slew Remus. This is why it's Rome and not Rem.**_

_**Brothers historically do not get along. Romulus and Remus; before them, Cain and Abel. Throughout human mythology, the countless good/bad brother dualisms in human belief. Dante and Vergil from the Devil May Cry video games. And somehow, it always seems to be the older brother that turns out to be the villain of the pair.**_

_**I would try to tie that back into Cain and Abel, but that raises the question of where the original inspiration came from. Perhaps it comes from some deep pang in the human mind. We are taught as we grow that the older must protect the younger; the past guards the future. When an older sibling turns on its younger fellows, it is practically a subversion of the natural order. But perhaps I'm just being philosophical...**_

_**Hmmm? No, I'm not Gerald. I'm the** _other_ **Laxina...**_

**Chapter Thirty-One: Blood Feud**

As Alexander waited for Gerald to arrive, he shifted in the cushions of his chair. His eyes shut, and he sighed softly, thinking, _Gerald... what's taking you so long?_

Deep within him, he could feel the Dark Conduit, its boundless energy coursing through the tissues and cells in his body. He mentally gauged it, and realized it was entering the ebb part of its cycle, when it produced less energy than usual.

There was a slight spark from his fingers, and he found himself thinking back...

He was five years old, and he was sitting on a chair in the waiting room of the local hospital; his mother was in the delivery room. Handing him a magazine, his father had run off to join her. All the boy could do was sit down and flip through it, not understanding half of what was written there. The average five-year-old doesn't have the life experience needed to interpret an issue of Reader's Digest, especially one older than he is.

Even as he put the magazine down and sat back, kicking his heels, Alexander could feel that something was wrong. Someone in the room was out of place, and it touched him like someone misplaying a note on an instrument. He looked around, blinking.

And then he saw a man standing near the door of the waiting room, looking from one person to another. The man was quite thin, his black suit and tie loose on him despite how tight he had his belt cinched. His skin was pale, like fine china, and he was completely bald. A pair of sunglasses sat on his nose, and as he looked around, he pushed them back up now and again.

A five-year-old has a strong current of curiosity in him, and so Alexander hopped off of his chair and approached the man, smiling. "Hello, mister," he said.

The thin man started at that sound, long fingers twitching. He then looked down at Alexander and smiled, reaching down to muss up the boy's hair. "Well, hello, there." He knelt down and set his hands on either side of Alexander's head. "Try not to panic..."

"Huh?" the boy asked, and then the other man looked into his eyes through those sunglasses - even though the shaded lens should have prevented it, he could still feel their eyes meet. A low buzzing noise sounded in his mind, rising upwards in volume and intensity. He soon began to whimper...

Then the sound faded away and the man stood up, cracking his fingers as he smiled wider. "You're the one," the man said. "You don't have it just yet, but I can feel the opening."

"What are you talking about, mister?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's 'it'? What did you just do?"

Shaking his head, the thin man adjusted his collar and pushed his sunglasses back up as he said, "In due time you will figure it out.  
Take care of your little brother until that day. We will meet again, Alexander."

Before the boy could ask how the man knew his name, he was back on his chair and the man was gone. Soon his father walked into the room, panting heavily before giving his son a wide grin. "Alexander," the older man said, "come and see your new brother..."

In the present day, Alexander sat up, adjusting himself on his chair. _That was the first time I met Degas,_ he thought to himself, frowning. _That opening he was talking about was what the Dark Conduit attached itself to when it entered my soul. But why..._ Another spark leapt from his fingers, and he then chuckled. _No need to be silly. I know why I thought of that just now._

The portal crackled, and he looked up, seeing it widen.

**0000000**

It was perhaps thirty seconds before Gerald passed all the way through the portal, feeling his body move from one side to the other in steps. The best comparison he could come up with was being taken apart atom by atom and rebuilt on the far side of the portal; once it was over, it took a good minute for his senses to recover.

The portal closed, and he looked around, taking in the room around him. He was standing on wooden planks, varnish faded, and a faint evening light came from the windows behind him and on his left. A TV sat on a table in the corner behind him and to the left, and there was a long couch on the right. Next to the couch was a small table with a lamp on it.

Gerald frowned. Even though five years had passed since the last time he had stood in this room, he knew two elements were missing. Originally there was a door into the dining room on his right, next to the couch, and a door to the outside on the left corner. Both were gone from this version.

Directly in front of Gerald there was an armchair, and someone he knew all too well sat in it. He had brown hair with natural blonde streaks highlighting it, and his eyes were the same color as Gerald's. While the man wasn't as tall as Gerald, standing around 5'10", he had a strong frame with muscles indicating a history of sports. He wore a green T-shirt and jacket, as well as dark green dress pants, held tight on his waist with a thin black belt. Currently he had his chin on the knuckles of one hand, elbow on the armrest, and looked at the other man with a faint expression of interest.

This was the man whose name Gerald could not say without wincing.

"Gerald," Alexander said, tapping one foot on the other.

Gerald nodded, wincing as he said, "Alexander."

"Come now, Gerald. That's not what you used to call me."

"I am _not_ calling you what you want to be called, Alexander," Gerald replied, his eyes narrowing. A bead of sweat ran down his brow.

"Gerald..." Alexander said, his voice turning into a teasing lilt on the second syllable..

The Chosen of the Light could feel his fists clenching as he whispered, "No, Alexander..."

"Come on, Gerald. Time to drop the charade." The man in green grinned wide. "You know what I want you to call me."

"Alexander..."

Alexander's fingers drummed on the armchair. "Admit it..."

"_Alexander..._" Gerald said, his body tensing and his face turning pale.

"Say it, Gerald. You must."

A rush of sadness ran through Gerald, and he sank to one knee and one hand, head dropping and his shades sliding down on his nose. One word left him in an explosive breath, tinged with despair: "Brother."

"Was it that hard, Gerald?" Alexander asked his younger brother.

The response was quick and harsh, the younger Laxina glaring at the Dark Conduit as he moved back upright: "_Yes._"

"Such a pity... Sit down, Gerald." The man in green leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other knee. "We have a lot to catch up on... How long has passed?"

One of Gerald's hands reached up and shoved the lenses back up on his nose. He thought for a moment, and then said, "Five years. But you can't think I have forgotten the last time we spoke."

"Oddly enough," Alexander replied, "I have forgotten it. Care to refresh my memory?"

"Are you just playing dumb, brother?" The younger Laxina stretched his arms a little, gesturing around them. "This place... you copied the house we lived in back then. This was the living room of the house in Phoenix where we last spoke. If you can remember this, then you have to remember what happened."

"I can remember the location, but somehow I can't remember what happened in it." The elder Laxina raised his eyebrow, admitting, "It does bug me that such an important event is missing from my memory. Now... what happened?"

**0000000**

Ulysses Cartnell slid off his bicycle as he approached the Mall of America, walking it up to the rack and setting it in place. He did not bother putting on a lock. Anyone who tried to steal his bicycle would regret it once the poison ivy started growing around their legs.

On entering the building, he was confronted with the sight of a vertiable army of unconscious people. None of them bore the marks of the Darkness Infection, and so he surmised that Reston had recently fallen. "But where could the latest Chosen have gone from there?" he said aloud. "I can't sense him..." He shut his eyes, activating a long-dormant ability. All Chosen of the Light could sense darkness, and the power did not go away just because one's purpose was complete.

The senses came in as hoped, and Ulysses opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow. "A men's room?" he said aloud. "Quite the interesting place to open a portal..."

He then sensed something else, and frowned, saying to himself, "That will have to wait. Someone needs help." He then headed for Camp Snoopy.

**0000000**

Taking a deep breath, Gerald began to talk, holding up one hand. "Five years ago... I was sitting on that couch, just reading..." He blinked, tears forming on his eyes. "I can't even remember what it was I was reading anymore... I just remember hearing you come in, and then... you started speaking..."

Alexander blinked, and his lips formed the words almost unbidden. "'I cannot stand it here anymore, Gerald. Just being around you hurts now, and I don't know why.'"

"'What do you mean, brother?'" Gerald said in response, their conversation falling into the same words as five years before.

"'Looking at you hurts me. You just sit there, wasting every minute of your life, and there's so much you could be doing. It makes me sick. Do something with your life for once... Don't just sit there and rot.'"

"'Alexander... what brought this about?'" Knowing what Alexander would say next, Gerald shut his eyes, trying not to let the flood of tears behind his eyelids break free.

Something shifted behind his brother's eyes, and Alexander paused before finally speaking. "'You are so worthless.' That was what I said then... And then I hit you." Those brown eyes softened, and the older Laxina blinked.

It could not be helped, and Gerald began to cry, the tears rolling unbidden down his face. "You struck me across the face, even as our mother yelled for you to stop... And then you got in your car and left. I left you a note when we moved out, but I never saw you after that." His words cut off with a sob, and he took off his sunglasses, hand covering his face as tears dripped past his fingers.

For a moment, Alexander reached out from his chair, a concerned frown on his face. And then his eyes hardened as a spark fell from his fingers, and he sat back, arm returning to the armrest. "So much has happened since I left our home," he said, resting his head on his hand. "The Dark Conduit joined with me... It filled the empty part of my soul. And now I walk with the Darkness, and I look to a day when it stands over all. That is why I called you here."

"I see," Gerald replied, wiping the last tears from his eyes. "Five years since the last time we spoke, and now you only want to talk about my death."

"Not death, necessarily." Alexander reached into his pocket, drawing out a Duel Monsters deck. "Degas has asked me to settle this affair. We will duel, and if you are victorious, you may walk away from this. If you are defeated, however... Well, let us just say you will wish the Beloved of Fire and the American Number One had let you sleep."

With a shuddering breath, Gerald nodded, putting the smoked-lens glasses into his pocket. He adjusted Sehnsucht, asking, "Do you still use the old theme?"

"Most of the time... but not today. Today I am using something special." Alexander frowned, continuing, "But my Image is worthless with it. Therefore, this will be something of a handicap duel. I will not call upon my Image, but you may freely use yours. I assure you that you will need it."

Setting the deck on his armrest, Alexander stood up and looked around the illusionary room, snapping his fingers. "No need to stay here, however. It has served its purpose."

All around them, the illusion of the Phoenix living room rippled and blurred away, becoming the blank black walls that had previously stood there. A few moments later, something new blurred into being: a vast, brilliant starfield, the celestial bodies swirling around both young men as they stood on a pathway made of crystal panes. A cushioned red chair stood behind Gerald, and a jade throne sat behind Alexander.

Raising his arm, Alexander Laxina smiled and concentrated, shutting his eyes. Black energy shot up his arm, a bolt of reversed lightning covering the entire limb. Soon it crackled away, leaving a black-and-green Duel Disk in its wake, a small frog as the deck holder. What sort of frog it was could not be guessed, as it had tiny horns on either side of its eyes and batlike wings on its back.

Taking a seat on his throne, Alexander slid his deck into the deck slot and sighed again, stroking his hair. "Get comfortable, Gerald. It may be the last time you can."

Without a word, Gerald sat down and put the last cards into his rebuilt deck, sliding it into Sensucht. In the back of his mind, however, his brother's voice suddenly popped up, speaking in German: _Kannst du mich hören? Er kann nicht Deutsches verstehen._

The Chosen of the Light froze, even as he raised Sehnsucht. A trembling thought echoed back through his mind: _Bruder?_

There was a mental nod, and then Alexander's voice continued. _Hören: Ich bin nicht, was ich scheine, zu sein. Das dunkle Rohr ist die Infektion, aber in einer anderen form. Ich wünsche, daß wir in einer anderen Weise getroffen haben könnten…_

_Wie I. Aber…_ Gerald paused, looking to Alexander's form as he did so. His Duel Disk arm shook slightly, even as his brother activated his own disk.

Alexander's mental voice turned grim. _Ich kann nicht lang sprechen. Gerald, zeigen mir keine Gnade. Mir die Entlastung eines Momentes geben und ich zerreiße deine Kehle heraus heftig. The voice paused, sighing. Du mußt kämpfen. Stark._

A tear formed in Gerald's eye as he thought, _Ich erhalte dich aus dort heraus, Alexander._ He then activated Sehnsucht, and the Duel Disk whirred to life.

_Ich weiß, daß du wirst. Ich vertraue dir. Jetzt Kampf… meine bruder._

Both Laxinas drew their opening hands, and their Life Point counters rose to 8,000. The black circle drew itself around the chairs, and the seal of a Dark Duel drew itself within the circle. Alexander smiled, and said softly, "I will begin."

**0000000**

At first there was nothing but pain, the entire world a red haze before him. A low growl issued from the predator's lips, and he rolled onto his stomach, pressing down on the floor as he rose, slitted eyes staring out on the world as though seeking prey. Muscles tightened, and claws scratched at the floor as the pain began to fade. Hunger had come upon it...

And then a hand grabbed one arm, and something pulsed through the predator. He blinked, the roaring in his mind ebbing away.

Once it was done, Chad Montmelier stood up, shaking as he did so, Ulysses helping him stay steady on his feet. He looked into the old man's eyes and asked, "What happened?"

"As far as I can work out," Ulysses replied, "you were defeated by the Pillar of Death. Gerald Laxina, however, has defeated the Pillar and freed you from the Darkness Infection." It was clear, however, that he wasn't saying something.

Chad blinked a few times, setting his hand to his head and swaying again. As Ulysses held onto his shoulders, the artist muttered, "I'm not saying it didn't happen, but... I can't remember any of it. I remember getting knocked to about 3,800 Life Points, I called my Image, and then it goes black..."

The elder Chosen of the Light frowned, as if deep in thought. The tall young man looked over his face, but couldn't read anything from it.

"Where's Gerald?" Chad then asked.

Snapping out of his train of thought, Ulysses said, "I'm trying to answer that question myself."

**0000000**

Plucking the top card off of his deck, Alexander tucked it into his hand and then took another card, sliding it into his Duel Disk. "I begin with this card facedown," he said, sliding another card into the slot next to it. "However, I will then play this Magic Card, Secret Installation. This lets me choose a facedown card on my field and move it onto your side."

Beside the facedown card, another card appeared, showing a picture of three men in black suits wiring a bomb to the handle of a door. The facedown card broke into a hundred pieces, which whirled around Gerald and then gathered on his field, reforming into their original shape. He reached for the card, trying to see what it was, but then the Duel Disk beeped and he withdrew his hand.

"Ah, ah, brother," Alexander said, head shaking. "You are forbidden to look at or activate the card thus given until your next turn. But if you're in such a hurry..." He paused, smirking. "Which you never are... I will show you the card myself, by playing this." He peeled another card out of his hand and played it. "Bait Doll forces it to activate."

The card flashed and lifted, revealing a card Gerald knew. "Robbin' Goblin?" he asked, looking between it and Alexander. "You're familiar with my deck theme... you have to be... so why this?"

The man in green shrugged and placed one last card on his Duel Disk, saying, "I set this monster in Defense Mode. Take your turn."

_That card... I can think of a deck theme that would punish me for using it, _Gerald thought, drawing his sixth card. _I will have to see if that's the one he's using._ "I set two cards facedown," he began, both cards flashing into being, "and then summon Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

Part of the Dark Duel's seal swelled outward, darkness flowing upwards and into a rough humanoid shape. The darkness abated, revealing a crude, human-shaped robot with a large number 7 on the plates worn over its shoulder. Its fingers twitched, energy sparking from them. (500/400)

"Jinzo #7," Gerald ordered, "attack Alexander directly with Cyber Glitch." He then shut his eyes.

The prototype robot raised its hand and concentrated, sparks of energy flowing onto its palm. This energy crackled and pulsed, forming a small sphere of purple electricity on its hand.

This it threw at the man in green, and it made contact even as Alexander smirked and began to say, "Hesitant, br-"

The Cyber Glitch exploded as it struck him, letting off a burst of static that cut off the rest of the sentence. Despite its appearance, he barely winced as his Life Points lowered to 7,500.

The Robbin' Goblin on Gerald's field began to glow, and Gerald glanced at it. "Since you were dealt damage in battle, a random card from your hand is discarded. The card you lose is..." Purple light outlined one of the cards in Alexander's hand, and Gerald nodded. "Second from the left."

With a light sigh, Alexander took the selected card and slid it into his Graveyard. As soon as the card was in, however, black fire erupted from the slot, two fireballs spitting out from the Graveyard and looping back onto his deck. The Duel Disk beeped, and he drew twice, a smile on his face. "Do you know what you made me discard, Gerald?"

"I can think of one," the younger man said, settling back into his chair. "However, I can't remember its name."

One of Alexander's fingers slid into the Graveyard, and he pulled out the discarded card, showing it to his brother. "Broww, the Huntsman of Dark World," he said as he did so. "Discarding it myself lets me draw a card. Having you knock it out of my hand lets me draw twice."

_Ah, Dark World..._ Gerald thought as he looked to his hand. _Now that I have Robbin' Goblin on my field, any attack could potentially benefit Alexander. Brother, you always did know how to give me a hard time._ He then said, "I end my turn."

As he drew his next card, Alexander merely smiled, taking another from his hand. "I set this card facedown," he said, "and switch Scarr, Scout of Dark World, into Attack Mode."

From the facedown monster rose a strange, apelike creature, its skin leathery and red and muscles covering its surface. It had a demonic green glow in its eyes, and silver bands crossed its arms and back. The creature let out a grunt and clenched its fist. (500/500)

Pausing, the older Laxina noted, "Attacking with it will not do me much good, so I will merely set this monster facedown..." Another facedown monster appeared beside Scarr. "...and that will be my turn."

Gerald now drew, frowning as he looked at Alexander. _Was that really him talking in my head,_ he thought, _or was he trying to fool me? Either way, he told me not to spare him._ "I set a monster in Defense Mode as well and then play Banner of Courage."

First the facedown monster appeared, and then the glass panels behind Gerald's chair began to shake, chipping slightly as they quivered. The banner forced its way up between two of them, panels buckling as the pole dislodged them. From its top fluttered the brilliant banner, its presence causing the Jinzo #7 to rev up a motor within itself. (700/500 - 900/500)

One of Gerald's hands gestured towards his brother, and he ordered, "Jinzo #7, Cyber Glitch again." This time, he fought off the disquiet and watched the attack.

Again, the Cyber Glitch charged up in one of the robot's hands, and it hurled it at Alexander. Before it reached him, however, the Dark Conduit snapped his fingers, sending a bolt of black lightning into it and causing it to detonate in midair, purple static crackling at the point of impact. His Life Points still lowered to 6,600, as the attack itself was not interrupted.

Gerald's Robbin' Goblin glowed again, and purple light outlined another card in Alexander's hand. He took it, showing it to Gerald - it was Swords of Concealing Light - and slid it into his Graveyard before pressing a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Forced Requisition," he said. "Every time I discard after this, you must also discard an equal number of cards from your hand."

The Continuous Trap Card lifted up, and suddenly there was a very stern-looking man in armor standing beside Gerald's chair. His presence made Gerald shift away... although whether it was just his presence or the very large stick he was holding was up for debate.

Trying not to look at the man, Gerald said, "I end my turn..."

Nodding, Alexander announced, "I begin mine." He drew, and then placed a card into his Duel Disk. "To begin with, I activate Cold Wave, which..."

"...freezes all Magic and Trap cards in our hands and on our fields until the end of my next turn," Gerald finished for his brother. "Chad has that card."

"Oh. Right, I forgot."

The stars in the field around them slowed to a halt, their lights seeming to dim, and for a moment - just for a moment - Gerald could feel the cold of the vacuum of space. He shivered where he sat, seeing his breath as he exhaled, and then the facedown cards on his field iced over with a low crackle. However, the stern man beside him, Alexander's Forced Requisition, also froze, becoming a human ice cube.

"Next," Alexander said as the cold receded, "I will flip my facedown Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World, into Attack Mode." He paused. "Incidentally, a vanguard is the part of an army which leads the way. The forward guard, if you will."

"I always wondered about that," Gerald admitted.

A lanky, rather ugly demon stood up on Alexander's field, holding a long spear in his hands. His eyes were hidden by a steel band, but his teeth were locked in a rictus grin, and curling horns sat on either side of his head. The demon wore light plate armor, and energy crackled around him. (1,600/1,300)

With a sigh, Alexander ordered, "Beiige, attack Jinzo #7 with Dark Assault."

The vanguard walked across the glass panels, spun his spear in one hand, and then grabbed it and thrust forward. It smashed through the Jinzo #7's chest, throwing the robot's internal electronics every which way. Grunting, Beiige yanked his spear up, the point tearing the robot in half from the chest up. It collapsed with a metal clang, and Gerald's Life Points sank to 7,300.

"I end my turn," Alexander said as the demon returned to his side.

The ice on Gerald's facedown cards and covering the Forced Requisition cracked, but this was hardly a relief to Gerald, even as he drew his next card. A groan passed his lips before he said, "I have to pass."

As Alexander drew, the ice on the facedown cards melted away, and the stern man from Forced Requisition flexed his arms, shattering his icy coating. The man in green, meanwhile, tucked his draw into his Duel Disk, announcing, "Pot of Greed..." He paid the hologram no mind, instead drawing twice before playing another card. "And next, Dark World Dealings."

As the card appeared, dust began to gather out in the cosmos beyond the duelist platform, roughly shaping itself into a pair of human figures. The dust approached, its shape refining itself as it did, until suddenly two men were standing beside either duelist. They weren't "men", persay, as men don't typically have red eyes and sharp fangs when they grin, but the resemblance was uncanny. Both of the newcomers were holding cards in their outstretched left hands.

"Gerald," Alexander asked, "have you heard of a card called Dragged Down into the Grave?"

After a moment of searching his memories, Gerald recalled Nina using it against Laura and nodded.

"This card is similar, but the steps are reversed," the Dark Conduit explained as he took the card from the demon standing beside him. "First, we both draw one card. However..." He took another card, one with a very ugly monster on it, and handed it to the demon. "No demon has ever given a gift without price, and this will not be an exception. You must then discard a card from your hand."

Nodding again, Gerald took the card from his own demon before taking another card from his hand (one from the deck he had built against Reston) and handing it over. The demons both chuckled and disappeared, leaving the scent of brimstone in their wakes.

However, the stern man standing beside Gerald swung his stick down, striking him on the knuckles. Wincing, Gerald thought, _Forgot about Forced Requisition. Alexander discarded, so I have to as well._ He took his Scapegoats and slid it into the Graveyard slot on Sehnsucht.

Before either duelist could move, there was a burst of green smoke on Gerald's side of the field, and yet another demon appeared from within it. It was a tall, skeletal demon, with light gray skin and a bulging cranium, its brain almost visible. Walking up to one of Gerald's facedown cards, it knelt and set a hand to it.

The man in green smiled, saying, "That monster is Green, Tactitian of Dark World. Unlike many Dark World monsters, I get its effect regardless of how it is discarded, or whose effect caused it. By discarding it for Dark World Dealings, I may destroy one of your Magic or Trap Cards."

Green set its other hand on the facedown card, and its eyes shut. Soon a black shockwave of energy ran out along the facedown card, and it cracked through the center, crumbling inwards. Eventually, the card (revealed as Gravity Bind) fell into tiny pieces and evaporated, whereupon Green disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"That," Alexander then said, "will end my turn."

_I have to wonder, Alexander,_ Gerald thought as he drew, _what inspired you to use a Dark World Deck against me. Once this is over I'll have to ask. _"My turn starts with Level Limit - Area B..."

Beneath their feet, the glass faded into an indistinct gray, and the edges of the platform warped upwards, forming walls. A roof then pulled itself into a solid mass, and a giant electrified pyramid formed over their heads. It shot energy down and into Beiige, forcing the spear-carrying demon to kneel.

"Ah, yes," Alexander noted, looking at his kneeling monster. "This card forces monsters of Level Four or better into Defense Mode. Do remember, brother, that I've seen every duel you've fought since... Monster Island, actually."

"Wait..." One of Gerald's eyebrows went up. "Just how long ago did you start planning this?"

"That is unimportant. Continue your move."

Even as he took another card from his hand, Gerald thought, _It_ is _important and he knows it. The answer to that question would let me gauge how long ago he became the Dark Conduit._ "I summon Raging Flame Sprite in Attack Mode," he then said.

Over their heads, one of the stars let out a solar flare, a column of flame bursting free of its surface and stretching off into the void. Part of the flare broke free, and turned into a tiny spark as inertia carried it rapidly away from its point of origin. This spark floated through space before finally settling on the field in front of Gerald and cooling; at its core was a tiny, floppy-eared girl in red, carrying a torch, who stood up and giggled. (100/200) The Banner of Courage waved, and she smiled up at it. (100/200 - 300/200)

Alexander shook his head, murmuring, "Such an elaborate entrance for something so small."

"It is a little overdone, isn't it?" Gerald replied, tapping his last remaining card against his lip. "Still, she's here and it's my Battle Phase. Raging Flame Sprite, attack him directly with Fire Kiss."

As the fire-aligned sprite raised her torch, its flame burned brighter, becoming a solid palm of fire. She took a deep breath and blew into that fire, spending a tiny fireball across the field. It struck Alexander's chest, but he merely smirked as the flame evaporated, leaving him with 6,300 Life Points.

The Robbin' Goblin glowed, and one of Alexander's cards glowed in turn. He held up his Heavy Storm and slid it into his Graveyard, which caused the stern guard from Forced Requisition to whack Gerald across the knuckles with his stick. Even as he discarded his Attack and Receive, he glared at the guard and asked Alexander, "Is he really necessary?"

"You would be amazed at how people will try to weasel out of a proper discard," the man in green replied.

"Be that as it may, I end my turn." Gerald then rubbed his sore hand, muttering to himself. In front of him, the Raging Flame Sprite began to sweat, her torch glowing brighter amid the blackness of the void. (300/200 - 1,300/200)

Alexander drew now, his eyes flicking to his draw. This he tucked into his hand before calmly pushing up another card, which he played. "I play Golden Road," he said.

Off in the distance, out of the Level Limit Area's window a number of small objects flittered across the starscape. They began to slam together, and then it became clear what they were - gold bricks. Each brick joined into the others, some breaking in half as they moved above and below the duelists, and then they began to form a long, spiraling road. This road smashed through the walls of the Level Limit Area, throwing scraps of metal in all directions as it passed over and under the crystal platform.

Clearing his throat, Alexander softly sang, "Goodbye, yellow brick road, let the dogs of society howl..."

Gerald then joined in, and together they harmonized, "...you can't plant me in your penthouse, I'm going back to my plow... Back to the cabin out in the woods, back to hunting the horny-backed toad, I've finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road..." They then both fell silent.

"You always did love that song, brother," Alexander said, smirking. "Even if it was years before we realized what the words were."

There was no amusement on the Chosen's face as he said, "Tell me the card's effect. This is not a time to reminisce."

"Then what time is? Five years, brother..." Shaking his head, Alexander explained, "Golden Road lets us draw four cards, but as the song goes, our future lies beyond it. As the price for moving on, we must discard two cards."

Both men took hold of their decks and drew off four cards, and then the road over their heads began to crumble. Golden dust floated down, a brick fell loose, and then the golden road fell apart, falling to pieces all around both of the duelists as they sat there. None of the bricks ever touched either of them. While the road decayed, the walls of the Level Limit Area patched themselves, pulling in the discarded scraps of metal.

Alexander made his discards as the last bricks tumbled into nothingness, and Gerald did as well, discarding his Inaba White Rabbit and Nobleman of Extermination. And then the guard grunted and struck his hand with the stick, and Gerald went pale, thinking, _Forced Requisition... Damn it. I get nothing from this card at all._ He sullenly discarded Cyber Tutu and Mirror Force as well, his hand as empty as when he had started.

During this time, the seal of the Dark Duel had begun to expand in front of Alexander, and a smile crossed his face as it did so. "One of the cards I discarded with Golden Road," he explained, "was another of the venerable Dark World forces. This one is an official of higher rank than Beiige, and when he is discarded I may call him forward. So I call on the name and title of Sillva, Warlord of Dark World."

The swollen portion of the Dark Duel's seal split open, and a figure rose from it, made of pure darkness. Slowly this ebbed away, revealing another demon. This one was taller and far more muscled than Beiige, and his face was correspondingly uglier. He wore shining silver armor, and carried a sword of gleaming white metal, held across his chest. Crossing his arms before him, he knelt in Defense Mode, even as the Level Limit Area's electricity crackled at his feet. (2,300/1,400)

"Sadly, I cannot call on his effect," the Dark Conduit said, frowning. "That can only be done if it was your card effect that made me discard him. Therefore, I will set one card facedown..." He did so. "And that ends my turn."

Drawing a card, Gerald immediately played it, only taking a moment to identify it. "I play Pot of Greed," he announced, and the chortling pot appeared as he said it. He drew twice and then played another card, declaring, "Next, I use Mystical Space Typhoon to dispose of Forced Requisition. No longer will I lose cards when you do."

"Very well," Alexander said in a quiet voice.

There was a click, and then one of the Level Limit Area's walls lowered beside them. Whatever magic kept the vacuum of space from affecting the duelists briefly failed, and a rush of wind swept past them, causing their clothing to flutter and monsters to struggle as the onrushing suction pulled them towards the wall.

The guard of Forced Requisiton, however, failed at this attempt, and his feet slipped out from under him. He toppled backwards, his armor raising a mighty clang as he hit the crystal panels, and then he rolled backwards and towards the void. There was only the slighest gasp as he was drawn away, and then he floated out into space, Alexander's card shattering in the process.

With a low hiss, the wall slid back into place, and all of the monsters in play returned to their positions, the Raging Flame Sprite adjusting her hat. Whatever magic protected the duelists from the vacuum, it seemed, was back in full force.

Gerald, acting as though that hadn't just happened, slid a card into his Duel Disk. "I set this facedown," he said, "and now... Attack, Raging Flame Sprite."

After a moment's catching her breath, the little sprite inhaled, lifted her torch, and exhaled, breathing a larger ball of fire at Alexander. It flew at him... and then a green shield of energy surrounded him, the fire striking it and turning into a soft glow of green energy, the color the same as his clothing.

"You know Draining Shield," the man in green said as his Life Points rose to 7,600. "Therefore I won't bore you with another explanation."

"Thank you," Gerald said, frowning and waving for Alexander to start his turn.

For his first move, Alexander drew a card and then calmly slid one into his Duel Disk, saying, "As one with the Darkness, I have certain powers. For example, I can call down a bolt of Dark World Lightning whenever I choose, destroying one card in play. I choose to destroy your Level Limit - Area B."

The Dark Conduit raised one hand and snapped his fingers. There was nothing at first, and then a tremendous bolt of lightning as dark as the void around them shot out of the sky and hit the crystal panels between them, shattering its point of impact. The force of the lightning was enough to tear the surrounding Level Limit Area to shreds, throwing pieces aside as so much space junk.

Taking another card from his hand, Alexander slid it - a second copy of Scarr - into his Graveyard, noting, "The Darkness demands one card from my hand in exchange for the lightning, but really, what good would Scarr avail me against your deck?" He then reached down and quietly turned the position of all of his monsters.

One by one, the Dark World forces on Alexander's field rose to their feet. Scarr unfurled wicked claws, Beiige raised his spear, and Sillva drew the twin swords from in front of him, running one blade over the other. They all stared at Gerald's field, just waiting.

"And now," Alexander continued, playing another card from his hand, "to summon one of the more noble personages from the Dark World army. I call forth Zure, Knight of Dark World..."

Again, one of the lines of the Dark Duel's seal swelled out, and a bubble of pure darkness rose from it. A sword pierced this bubble from the inside, and it sliced open a thin line, from within which emerged a blue-skinned demon, dressed in full battle array. He raised his blade in front of him and chortled. (1,800/1,500)

And then the crystal panels below his feet fell away, leaving only a hole and the void. The vacuum caught him, and before Zure could react he was sucked out into space, dropping his sword as he flew out into the distance. As Zure floated away, struggling, the crystal panels reappeared on the platform.

Alexander looked up at Gerald, who merely slid his Trap Hole into the Graveyard without a word.

"Fair enough," the Dark Conduit finally said. "Although you can make a clever quip any time now... I now play Rush Recklessly on Beiige."

A burst of energy filled the Vanguard of Dark World, and he spun his spear around his body before jabbing out three times with it, giving a cruel laugh on each rotation. (1,600/1,300 - 2,300/1,300)

With a wave of his hand, Alexander ordered, "Beiige, attack his facedown monster."

As ordered, the lanky demon sprang forward, swinging his blade up and around, driving it point-first into the facedown monster... until a pair of large gunbarrels blocked the attack. His spear instead drove into one of them, and a powerful suction yanked it from his grip. The guns spun around, and the other barrel aimed directly at Alexander. And then it fired the spear at him, and it struck through Alexander's lower body, tip striking his throne. His Life Points dropped to 5,300, and he tugged the spear free, throwing it off the platform.

Gerald said nothing, merely discarding his Magic Cylinder trap to the Graveyard.

With a sigh, the man in green said, "Say something, Gerald. Your silence is less stoic than it is merely annoying."

"I have nothing to say, Alexander," the younger Laxina replied, crossing his arms.

"If that's the case, brother... Sillva, destroy his facedown monster with Demonic Crosscut."

Raising the white sword, Sillva stepped forward. There was a stutter, and then he disappeared from where he was standing and appeared before the facedown monster. His sword flashed twice, in an X pattern, and the monster appeared as a Humanoid Slime. (800/2,000) This creature wiggled for a second, and then fell apart into four pieces, which evaporated.

"I set a card facedown and end my turn," Alexander concluded.

Reaching for his next card, Gerald frowned at what he saw - his hand was trembling. _That's not your brother,_ he reminded himself. _That is your brother under a layer of darkness. You're in this to get him out._ He drew his card, and then declared, "I set one monster in Defense Mode," as he did so.

"And in response," Alexander said, "I activate my Trap Card, The Forces of Darkness. I may now return two monsters with Dark World in their names to my hand." Two cards, Broww and Green, jutted out of his Graveyard slot, and he tucked them into his hand.

_Which means my Magic and Trap Cards are at risk again, but I can't afford not to attack. Not with the army standing across from me._ "Raging Flame Sprite, attack with Fire Kiss," Gerald said aloud.

Taking a deep breath, the little Pyro exhaled a massive breath, blowing a large fireball across the field into Alexander's chest. It struck home, and he let out a series of hacking coughs, his Life Points falling to 4,000. The Robbin' Goblin now glowed, and one of the cards he had just regained glowed in response, whereupon he discarded it.

There was a low glow, and then the impossibly thin demon known as Green appeared on the field. It shut its eyes and concentrated, and a shockwave of black energy fired out from its hand. The Banner of Courage began to quiver, the metal that made up its body splintering from the force of the attack, and then it shattered and fell into the void of space.

Without its inspiration, an expression of dismay took over on the Raging Flame Sprite's face. (1,300/200 - 1,100/200) However, this was soon hidden by a mask of sweat as she panted again, the torch she held burning ever brighter. (1,100/200 - 2,100/200)

"I see which card I made you discard," Gerald noted, "and so I end my turn."

"Please... show some enthusiasm, my brother." Alexander drew his next card, continuing, "This duel stops being fun when you stonewall like that."

Both of Gerald's hands began to dig into his chair's armrests, and his eyebrow began to twitch. Finally, he gave in and said, "This isn't supposed to be about fun, Alexander. You and your servants have torn this city apart... torn my _friends_ apart... in the name of the Darkness. Pardon me if I have trouble seeing the _pleasure_ in it."

The Dark Conduit shrugged. "To each his own. I set one card facedown and summon a monster who is one of the Dark World's higher rulers... even though his own vassals consider him utterly insane. Behold Brron, Mad King of Dark World."

In front of the new facedown card, another of the lines of the Dark Duel's seal began to expand. It rippled from within, and then a demon rose up from within, hands holding their opposite shoulders. He wore a crown, which was at a cock-eyed angle on his wild hair, and royal finery was draped around his body, most notably a velvet cape. The demon let out a low crackle, very thin arms twisting around each other. (1,800/400)

Looking to Sehnsucht, Gerald realized he had used up his defenses on the previous turn. _Well, then, brother... _He winced at that thought. _I will have to just take it this turn._

Alexander, meanwhile, adjusted his position on the jade throne, turning to Sillva. "Demonic Crosscut on the Raging Flame Sprite, Sillva."

The Warlord of Dark World drew forth his sword again and stuttered towards the little Pyro, causing her to drop her torch in fright and cower. His sword rammed directly through her chest, and he lifted her overhead, giving a terrible laugh as he did so. The demon moved its sword up and down, bouncing the impaled sprite on the blade, and then he pulled upward and spun the blade around, slicing her into countless pieces which plummeted into space, blood trailing behind them.

Some of the blood landed on Gerald's chair, and he frowned, even though his Life Points only lowered to 7,100.

"Beiige, attack his facedown monster with Dark Assault," Alexander ordered without any apparent care for the Raging Flame Sprite's demise.

Hefting his spear, the vanguard leapt across the field and rammed his weapon point-first into the facedown monster. As he withdrew the spear, the monster was revealed as a piece of pottery with a wide grin and a single eye - a Morphing Jar. (750/700) Cracks ran throughout its surface, and then the jar shattered into a hundred pieces.

Both men nodded, familiar with the card. As Gerald had no cards in his hand, he simply drew five cards from his deck. Alexander, however, folded his hand and slid it into his Graveyard, drawing five more.

And then black fire burst from his Graveyard, and he smiled. "Broww," he pointed out, "was once again discarded by your card effect." Two black fireballs hit his deck, and he drew two more cards, nodding to Scarr. "Attack him directly while I work out what I drew."

The ape-like demon roared and ran up to Gerald, jumping onto the armrests of his chair. Before the Chosen of the Light could do anything in his own defense, the demon threw one hand down, punching him hard in the stomach. A puff of breath left him, and Gerald groaned as his Life Points fell to 6,600.

"You may as well have saved that groan, brother," Alexander said at that point. "There is one more attack yet this turn. Brron, attack him directly with Madman's Punishment."

For a moment, the Mad King just stood there, a chaotic laugh pushing its way out of his throat. And then he stalked forward, fingers twitching as he approached Gerald with an unholy clarity in his eyes. It was obvious what he was going to do, but Gerald was too winded to move.

Displaying an agility belying his condition, Brron plunged his sharp-nailed hand forward, passing through Gerald's clothes as though they didn't exist and burying the fingers up to the first knuckles in Gerald's chest. The young man gasped in shock as Brron then made a fist, lifting him by the part of his flesh he had taken hold of, and swung Gerald up and over his head. The younger Laxina hit the crystal panels with a loud slam, cracks forming at the point of impact, and let out a low groan of pain. His Life Points lowered to 4,800.

As if ignoring his brother's injury, Alexander took a card from his hand and said, "As per Brron's effect, now that you have taken Battle Damage, I may choose to discard a card if I wish. I choose... this one." He slid the card he had chosen into his Graveyard...

...and then a series of black sparkles rose over his body, and he smiled, his Life Points rising to 5,000.

Gerald, pushing himself back to his feet, saw this and murmured, "Now what could be causing that?"

"A card called Black Nostrum," the Dark Conduit replied. "When I discard it from my hand, I gain 1,000 Life Points." He slid a card into his Duel Disk, noting, "With this facedown, I'll end my turn."

By that point, Gerald had settled back into his chair, pushing Sehnsucht back into place on his arm. He drew a card before fanning his hand, taking out another one. "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master," he said.

"And I chain with Cloak and Dagger," Alexander said in return, pressing a button on his Duel Disk.

For a moment, the light of the stars surrounding the duelists dimmed, and an aura of light formed around Gerald. It glowed softly, and the lingering pain in his back from Brron's slam faded, his Life Points rising to 5,800. But at the same time, he heard a click off in the far distance, and the sensation of being watched rose in the pit of his stomach.

The elder Laxina smirked, explaining, "Somewhere out in the distance, beyond any of our eyes, a sniper is now watching this field. I now have to name a target, and when that target appears, the sniper will kill it with one shot, removing it from the game. Of course, that ends the contract, and the sniper leaves the game as well." Lifting his head, Alexander called into the void, "Your target is Heaven's Sphere."

Another click came in response.

_Of course,_ Gerald thought, frowning. _They always target my Heaven's Sphere. Then again, I do have the unfortunate tendency to rely on it... _Taking another card, he declared, "I now activate Messenger of Peace, which - as you're familiar - prevents monsters with better than 1,500 Attack Points from attacking."

A circle of light briefly breached the Dark Duel's seal, and from it rose the ever-calm old man in white robes. He glared at Alexander's Fiends, and thrust one palm forward, uttering a word in a language Gerald didn't recognize, but somehow knew was the language of Light, Elysian. Beiige, Brron, and Sillva stepped back, reeling, but Scarr seemed unmoved.

"Now," the Chosen of the Light continued, "I summon my Servant of Catabolism in Attack Mode."

The Messanger of Peace stepped aside, allowing the small snail/squid creature to inch its way forward. This was not the one that resonated with Gerald's soul, and so nothing special happened on its arrival. It was only coincidence that a star shot past off in the distance. (700/500)

"For my last move, I play Premature Burial to restore my Raging Flame Sprite," Gerald concluded. He then took a breath.

Gerald's Life Points lowered to 5,000, and red energy streamed out from the farthest reaches of space. This energy swirled together on the cracked panels in front of Gerald, and slowly reformed into the floppy-eared girl that was the Raging Flame Sprite. She coughed a few times, and then took up her torch again. (100/200)

After taking another long breath, Gerald turned to the sprite and ordered, "Raging Flame Sprite, attack him directly with Fire Kiss."

Nodding, the little Pyro blew on her torch. A tiny fireball floated across the field and struck Alexander, causing him to shrug as his Life Points fell to 4,900; once again, the Raging Flame Sprite's fire burned brighter and her Attack Points rose to 1,100. Robbin' Goblin glowed, and the man in green slid Call of the Haunted from his hand into the Graveyard...

There was a bright flash of light, so bright that Gerald was briefly blinded, and when he could see again, Alexander was drawing a card. "Wait, I didn't end my turn..." he protested.

"Doesn't matter," Alexander replied. "My facedown card was the Trap Card called Flashbang. When I'm attacked directly, I can activate it to instantly end your turn. So it's my turn now."

_Damn,_ Gerald thought, and he leaned back in his chair.

"That being the case, I open with a card called Mystik Wok," Alexander continued. "We will now pause for a snack break."

A gigantic, blue-skinned demon in a chef's outfit appeared, and his hand flashed down, grabbing up Beiige and hefting him into the sky. The chef tossed Beiige into a wok, and then slammed a fork out, tossing the Vanguard of Dark World around as he flipped the wok again and again. After a few minutes, the chef tossed a bowl and chopsticks to Alexander before vanishing. With only a moment's trepidation, the Dark Conduit began eating, his Life Points rising to 6,500 as he did so.

Gerald paused, swallowed for a moment, and then asked, "How does it taste?"

The question caused Alexander to pause, and he thought for a moment. Finally, he replied, "Have you ever had particularly rubbery bruschetta cheese?" He then tossed the bowl away, picking up his hand again. "Alton Brown couldn't have made better. Either way, I now set a card facedown and enter my Battle Phase." As the card appeared, he turned to Scarr. "You've served your purpose. Attack the Servant of Catabolism."

Both Gerald and the Scout of Dark World gave Alexander a look of confusion, but then the demon clenched his fists and ambled towards the snail/squid being, the Messenger of Peace not even giving him a second glance. Before Scarr could even pull his hand back to strike it, the Servant stuck the ends of its tendrils into his foot and let loose its electricity, sending it through the demon's body and vaporizing him.

Alexander's Life Points lowered to 6,300, but he merely shrugged and took his deck in hand, sorting through it. "By Scarr's effect," he said, "I may search my deck for any Dark World monster of Level Four or less when he dies; it then goes into my hand. This one will do." He set his deck back in his Duel Disk, and as it shuffled, he showed the card to Gerald. It did have "Dark World" in its name, and it had fewer than four Level Stars, but Gerald couldn't recognize it otherwise. "That's my turn."

No response came from Gerald as he drew his next card. He paused, and his Life Points lowered to 4,900 as he noted, "I pay 100 Life Points for the Messenger of Peace. Next..." One card fell onto Sehnsucht as he declared, "I summon another Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode."

Another of the prototype robots rose to its feet, cracking its steel knuckles as it stood. (700/500)

A smile crossed Alexander's face as he fanned his cards out in front of him, thinking, _Fifty-fifty, brother._

The smile shook Gerald deep inside, but he shook his head, ordering, "Raging Flame Sprite, attack him directly again with Fire Kiss."

For the fourth time thus far in the duel, the Raging Flame Sprite inhaled, and then blew on her torch's flame, sending a ball of fire into Alexander. He gave only the slightest wince, his Life Points down to 5,200. The Robbin' Goblin glowed, and he took a card from his hand as it glowed, sliding it into his Graveyard.

Over the duelist's heads, the stars and planets began to dance, their movements guided by celestial law, and Alexander looked up, extending a hand to them. "Do you see that, brother?" he asked. "Everything in the universe is guided by rules and laws we'll never understand. You and I were bound to be brothers by the rules of reality, we were bound to be enemies by the same rule... even the card I just discarded was decided on in ages past."

"I never chalked you up for a believer in fate," Gerald replied, watching the stars move about over his head.

One of Alexander's hands rose and fell, and he said, "Ever since I first learned of the Balance, I couldn't help but think that. Either way, the card you just made me discard was the second-highest-ranking monster in Dark World. And when I discard him, he comes to the field. So please... show respect to Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World."

Once more, the seal of the Dark Duel beneath Alexander's feet rippled, and one of the lines swelled. A gold line drew itself down the center of the swollen spot, and the aforementioned Wu-Lord rose from within. He loomed over his subordinates, gold scales covering his body, and he held a massive golden axe in his hands. Fire danced on his eye sockets as Goldd spread his wings. (2,300/1,400)

"And the best part?" the Dark Conduit continued. "Because, technically, Robbin' Goblin is your card, Goldd was discarded by your card effect... and thus his special ability activates. I may destroy any two cards on your field. Goldd..." He pointed twice. "Destroy the Messenger of Peace and Servant of Catabolism."

The fire in Goldd's eyes grew all the greater, and he opened his mouth, revealing how the fire rolled within his maw. The massive demon threw his head back, and then shoved his head outward, roaring. Out poured the fire, and the crystal panels between the sides cracked as that immense heat flew over the top. Gerald's Jinzo #7 dropped to the ground and covered its head, and the Raging Flame Sprite jumped to one side, but the flames covered the Messenger of Peace and Servant of Catabolism.

Although the fire couldn't reach Gerald, he could still see into it, and see how his monsters burned and writhed as Goldd's flames reduced them to ashes. When the fire burned out, nothing was left but small piles of dust. He shuddered, and then remembered it was still his turn. "This calls for vengence," he said, taking a breath. "Jinzo #7, attack directly with Cyber Glitch."

Rising to its feet, the prototype robot clicked and whirred for a second before raising one of its hands. Purple electricity danced around its hand, soon forming into a small ball of energy, and it hurled this at Alexander, who allowed it to hit him. Sparks flew off of the Dark Conduit as his Life Points fell to 4,700, and a card in his hand glowed from Robbin' Goblin. He discarded it...

A grotesque, egg-shaped demon fell from above and landed behind the Raging Flame Sprite. It flicked out a tiny knife and jabbed it into her throat before she could even turn around, causing her to gasp. The knife flicked down, and she fell to her knees, hands over her throat as the incandescent-white blood poured from her wound. She shattered into triangular shards, as did her killer.

"Another of your Dark World cards?" Gerald asked, glaring.

In response, his brother held up his most recent discard. "Kahkki, the Guerilla of Dark World... but let's not mince words, he's an assassin," he replied. "When I discard it, I may destroy a monster on your field. It's the complement to Gren."

Nodding, the younger Laxina slid a card into his Duel Disk. "This will be my last move for the turn..." _And good riddance,_ he thought. _He did more on this turn than I did._

Drawing a card, Alexander admired his forces. He had the Mad King, Brron, who was convulsing and flexing his claws; the Warlord, Sillva, who was admiring his reflection in his blades, and the Wu-Lord, Goldd, who spat a bit of fire as he readjusted his grip on his axe. _I do miss my other deck,_ he thought, _but this one has its charms._

"I set a card facedown," Alexander now declared, "and I will have Brron attack your robot..."

The Mad King let out a crazed laugh and threw himself forward, those long-fingered hands reaching out to crush Jinzo #7's head... only to press against an invisible wall. With a squeal of anger, he hammered on the wall, fists beginning to bleed after a few moments, before pulling away with a low growl.

Neither duelist was surprised as Gerald slid his Negate Attack into the Graveyard. All Alexander did was shrug and say, "End turn."

Gerald drew his next card, and then paused. "Oh, right," he said after a moment. "You destroyed my Messenger of Peace... That being the case, I'll play Blasting Vein on Robbin' Goblin, destroying it for two cards. Enough of your advantage."

_It did what it had to,_ Alexander thought, looking to one of his facedown cards. _Whenever I'm ready for it..._

Several red seams began to show in the Robbin' Goblin, smoke rising from them, and then the top cracked open, magma leaking down from it. Beams of light showed as the card swelled, and then it exploded, throwing pieces of itself everywhere. Two cards jutted off of the top of Gerald's deck, and he added them to his hand.

"That's a new one," Alexander noted.

Gerald nodded, adjusting the cards in his hand. He then said, "I acquired it while preparing for my second battle with Reston. It was in my One-Slash Kill deck, but I never drew it." Taking two of his cards, he lifted Sehnsucht and placed them on it. "I set a card facedown and summon my other Servant of Catabolism."

The facedown card came into being, and then another of the squid/snail creatures rose from the crystal panels, tentacles emerging from its maw. (700/500) This was the one that Gerald's soul resonated with, and the Jinzo #7 saluted it, eyes flashing.

As much as that facedown card worries me, Gerald thought, this is my shot. "Servant of Catabolism," he said, "attack him directly with Electric Tendrils."

Once the order was given, the cephalopod dragged itself forward, leaving a trail of white slime behind it as it approached the target. It hadn't gotten within five feet, however, before Alexander pressed a button on his Duel Disk. The crystal panels directly in front of his monsters fell from their moorings, and a wall of white fog filled the space vacated by their absence. Hideous faces pressed their way out of this wall, and the Servant of Catabolism ran back in retreat, tendrils waving.

The Dark Conduit smiled and held up his Duel Disk, saying simply, "Spirit Barrier. Try to hurt me now."

"You know I can't," Gerald replied. "I end my turn."

**0000000**

The last remnants of Reston's Darkness Infection faded from his victims, and one by one they awoke, each rising from where they had fallen in turn.

Sol Kilkarn opened his eyes to see what seemed like nine different food courts floating around him. After a brief moment of panic, he shut his eyes and whimpered. On reopening them, he saw one in front of his face. This done, he rose to his knees, hand on his head. Memories ran through his mind right up to where Reston had defeated him.

"Agh..." he groaned, moving over to the nearest table. One hand caught hold of it, and he pulled himself to his feet, shaking a bit. "I'm not infected now..." He checked his hands to make sure of it. "...which means that Gerald defeated him. But where did he go, anyway?"

With another groan, he staggered for the escalator... but then stopped, took out his wallet, and moved back to the Taco Bell counter. Looking at the menu, he mentally added up how much his breakfast had cost.

**0000000**

On awakening, Demetrius Lark reached out with either hand, searching blinding for his hat and cane. His fingers caught hold of both, and he pulled them in, placing the former on his head and using the latter to get back to his feet. His legs wavered for a second, and he leaned heavily on his cane.

"Hmmm... given that I am awake and in control of my faculties, I will assume my gamble succeeded and Gerald did as he had to do," Demetrius said, tapping his cane to his lip. His free hand went down to brush off his pants as he readjusted his hat. "Now to find him... Lucifer?"

No response was forthcoming, and so Demetrius looked around. All he found was one large scorchmark. The Beloved of Fire was absent.

A bead of sweat rolled down Demetrius's forehead. "I have a very bad feeling about this," he murmured to himself.

**0000000**

For a moment, the nightmare lingered, and then Laura Vesnic sat upright, a gasp shaking her body. She shivered for a few minutes, and then caught hold of her breath, looking around. Her last memories were from when Reston defeated her, mockingly told her who he really was, and then told her to sleep... and then the nightmare had started.

Her hands went to her neck, looking for the clammy black marks of the Darkness Infection. Finding none, she let out a sigh of relief and pulled her knees close, her breathing back under control.

"The Pillar must be gone," she told herself. "You're not going back there anytime soon. But who beat him?" She looked around, and then asked herself, "Where did the guys go off to, anyway? You'd think someone would stand guard..."

Laying back, Laura sighed again, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes shut, and she thought, _I wonder what Jessica is up to. Probably browbeating the cops into upping the search for me. My big sister was never one to just sit on her laurels._

**0000000**

As Alexander drew his next card, he shook his head and exhaled, sliding the card into his hand. "I have nothing I care to do at the moment," he said, "so I will pass this turn."

Gerald drew as well, and then frowned. _I have nothing I can do._ "I'll pass as well."

Now with four cards in his hand, the older Laxina gave his younger brother a smile, holding up one of his cards. "This turn, I have something I can do. I will play my Pot of Avarice, shuffling five monsters back into my deck for two more cards. Zure, Broww, Khaki, Green, and Black Nostrum will do me more good in the deck than in the Graveyard, wouldn't you say?"

The incredibly silly pot rose up through the empty space left by Spirit Barrier, and the fog of the latter card rose up. The spirits of the Knight of Dark World, Huntsman of Dark World, Assassin of Dark World, Tactitian of Dark World, and the human-shaped root all flooded into the pot, which quivered for a moment and then shattered before Alexander drew twice.

"Next," the Dark Conduit continued, sliding another card into his Duel Disk, "I'll use Pot of Generosity to put two cards back into my deck..."

Gerald interrupted him, asking, "When Jean-Vic used that, he used it to make sure he had B.E.S. monsters to summon through Boss Rush. Why are you using it?"

"Because my deck is getting very, very thin. No need to risk decking out when I can't even use these two cards yet..." Alexander slid two cards from his hand back into his (truthfully thin) deck, watched them shuffle themselves, and then said, "Take your move, Gerald."

_What cards could they be?_ Gerald asked himself as he drew. Admiring his drawn card, he played it, declaring, "I activate Giant Trunade..."

"No, you don't," Alexander rebutted.

"Yes, I do..." the younger Laxina said, raising an eyebrow. "Or is that facedown card a Magic Jammer?"

As he pressed a button on his Duel Disk, Alexander chuckled. "Worse than that," he replied. "It's a Trap Card called Dark Deal. I must give up 1,000 Life Points to make it work..."

Once more, the magic that protected the duelists from the vacuum of space began to fade... but this time it was only for a moment. Holding up his wrists, Alexander slid them against each other, wincing as he did so, and his Life Points sank to 3,700. Blood leaked out from his cut wrists, and it splattered down onto the crystal panels in front of his throne. The barriers of the platform turned red, and the magic was restored.

With that, the Trap Card flipped, and the blood swirled around Alexander before gathering beside him. A demon appeared, closely resembling the Dark King of the Abyss, and it moved a finger back and forth over Alexander's twin cards.

"What the deal has done," Alexander explained, his cut wrists healing rapidly, "is change the effect of Giant Trunade. It now requires that you discard one card from my hand at random. So tell the demon when to stop..."

_Oh, damn,_ Gerald thought, turning pale as he shifted in his chair. _By transforming my card's effect, he's made it so that any card he discards is by_ my _effect, not his. And that means his Dark World monsters get the stronger of their effects... I'm almost certain either card is going to be a bad pick. _"Stop," he finally said.

The demon's finger stopped over the card on Alexander's left, and it poked through it, bony tip passing clean through the card. That card turned black, and energy danced over it. The Dark Conduit slid it into his Graveyard... and then the platform began to shake.

"Let me guess," the Chosen of the Light said, a frown on his face. "I've just made you discard a Dark World monster."

"The strongest," Alexander said in return. "A monster so powerful that discarding it from my hand myself does nothing. He can only be Special Summoned if _your_ card effect was the one doing the discarding. I saved my Dark Deal just for this occasion... This is the dawning of the highest-ranking monster in Dark World. Come forth, Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World."

This time, the entire seal of the Dark Duel pulled away from the center, where a bright red spot had appeared. This spot expanded outwards, bubbling slightly, until it was as large around as Gerald was tall. It began to boil, and then a black-scaled hand thrust itself out into the space above.

Goldd, Sillva, and Brron all gathered around the spot and kneeled, stretching out to kowtow around the emerging monster. It rose from the boiling red pool, a dark and tainted majesty gathering around it as it came into being. The monster stood over nine feet tall, black scales shining like onyx as it stood. Shining silver armor arched over its shoulders and covered its lower body, four luminous gems at the center of its chest. It had curling horns, tips sharp, and a face like a skull. One gauntleted hand gripped a gold-bladed sasumata, both blades shining. Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, had arrived. (2,500/1,8000)

"Kneel, Gerald," Alexander said. "You stand before royalty."

"I only kneel before those who prove they deserve it," Gerald told him.

Both Alexander and Reign-Beux shrugged. "Then he will just have to prove it. When he's discarded by your card effect, I may choose to either destroy all of your monsters or to purge the field of your Magic and Trap cards." The Dark Conduit smirked before continuing, "I can tear your monsters apart without even thinking about it, so I will take the latter course."

All Reign-Beaux did was extend its empty hand. Gerald's Gravity Bind shattered to pieces.

"Still your move," the man in green then said.

Gerald reached down and switched all of his monsters into Defense Mode. Jinzo #7 knelt, and the Servant of Catabolism withdrew its tendrils into itself. "I set one card facedown," Gerald then said, "and end my turn." The card appeared in front of him.

There was a sense of exaggerated care around Alexander now, and he drew his next card, tucking it into his hand. He then paused before turning to Brron and saying, "Attack his Jinzo #7 with Madman's Punishment."

The Mad King adjusted his crown, flexed his overly-long fingers, and then lunged across the field, hands flexing as he prepared to tear the machine apart...

"Activate Silver Dollar," Gerald declared, pressing the appropriate button on his Duel Disk, "which negates an attack on a monster with less than 1,000 Attack Points I control." The silver dollar flipped into view, and he grabbed hold of it, brandishing it at Brron. A massive flash of light covered the room, and the demon stumbled back, falling to his knees before he could reach the robot. He then staggered away.

As Gerald discarded the coin, Alexander crossed his arms, giving a slight groan. He then turned to Goldd and said, "That only works once. Reduce his machine to scrap."

A curt nod passed between the Wu-Lord and his player, and then Goldd raised his axe over his head. He brought it down hard on the space in front of him, sending a shockwave across the field. This shockwave hit the Jinzo #7, and the machine began to vibrate, eyes flashing. Screws fell out of their moorings, nuts and bolts rattled as they worked themselves loose, and over the next few seconds, the robot dismantled itself from within.

In the end, there was a massive clatter as the Jinzo #7 fell into its component parts in front of Gerald.

"Now, Sillva," Alexander ordered, "attack his Servant of Catabolism with Demonic Crosscut."

There was a blur as the Warlord of Dark World stepped forward, and he disappeared, only to appear in front of the bizarre creature on Gerald's field. He raised his sword, and then slashed twice around the victim. The Servant of Catabolism leaked ooze for a moment, and then fell apart, divided into four parts.

Throughout the attacks, Gerald had showed no sign of emotion. Even now, as his last defense and soul card died, he merely took hold of the armrests of his chair, looking straight ahead.

For a moment, Alexander looked back at Gerald, and as a black spark fell from his finger, he was about to say something... but then he frowned, pursing his hands. "So be it," he said, exhaling. "Reigh-Beaux, attack Gerald directly with Soul Pierce."

Spreading its wings, the Overlord of Dark World lifted its sasumata and fluttered across the field, landing in front of Gerald's chair. It raised the spear, glaring down into Gerald's eyes. Gerald, in response, took out his sunglasses, opened them, and slid them on. Rain-Beaux chuckled for a moment.

The twin-bladed weapon shot down, ramming through the Chosen of the Light's body and into his chair. He let out a slight gasp as one blade ran through his chest and one through his stomach, and then Reign-Beaux jerked up, freeing the weapon from the chair while leaving Gerald impaled. The demon raised its weapon, lifting Gerald over his head as the young man choked, and stared up at its prey.

Gerald's Life Points lowered to 2,400, and then Alexander murmured, "That's quite enough, Overlord. You can put him down now."

About a minute after the attack had begun, Reign-Beaux lowered its sasumata and thrust it forward, tearing Gerald off of it. He fell into the chair, his blood on the sasumata's blades although his body was undamaged, and laid there, groaning. There were twin rips in his shirt, and he struggled to catch his breath.

Rain-Beaux returned to its side of the field, and Alexander sighed, saying, "It's your move, brother."

It was some time before Gerald spoke again. With a grunt, he pushed himself up in his chair, leaning forward over Sehnsucht, and pushed the shades back up on his nose. "Alexander..." he began. He did not have the strength to finish it.

"Gerald," Alexander said in return.

The younger Laxina shut his eyes behind his sunglasses, fighting the urge to shed tears. _The longer this duel goes on, the more I think he was lying to me in my mind,_ he thought. _This_ thing_... how can it qualify as my brother? Even at his worst he was never so nonchalant about hurting me. Did I just make up those thoughts?_ His fingers twitched, and he looked at the one card he held.

As he drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne, the Dark Conduit exhaled, saying, "Brother mine, I must ask you to hurry up."

"Fine," Gerald replied. He then thought, _Whether or not Alexander is in there, I still cannot lose._ One hand flicked the next card off of his deck, and he then remembered something. "I call on my Image."

White light spread out around Gerald's chair, and he watched as it flowed behind him, weaving itself up and into a human shape. This shape clarified, becoming the muscular man with a bored expression that had stood behind Gerald in his first battle against Reston - the Indominable Fighter Lei Lei. One hand fell on Gerald's shoulder, rubbing it.

"How particularly fitting," Alexander noted, smiling. "Powerful, but lazy. So very lazy. It's you in so many ways."

One of Gerald's eyebrows twitched, and he said, "Lazy, yes, but only because he puts his all into every attack. He fights with all his energy, and only falls asleep once the battle is done. So yes... fitting." He then took his drawn card and threw it down, declaring, "Swords of Revealing Light."

All around the duelists, the stars began to flicker. Their orbits began to come closer to the dueling platform, their light causing odd shadows to fall on the field and around the Dark World monsters. Soon some of the stars began to change shape, stretching out and forming into the familiar shapes of swords; they then began to shrink. One by one, the sword-shaped stars launched themselves into the field around Alexander, and his monsters froze where they stood.

Even as he leaned back into his chair, Gerald said, "I have to end my turn there."

With a grunt, the Dark Conduit drew his next card and noted, "I pass." The swords began to fade, and his monsters stirred where they stood.

Drawing again, Gerald held up his draw, announcing, "I play my own Pot of Avarice now..." As Lei Lei looked around in confusion, spectral images of the Raging Flame Sprite, Morphing Jar, Jinzo #7, Servant of Catabolism, and Inaba White Rabbit swirled around the seated duelists, drawn into the same large, silly-looking jar as when Alexander had played the card. It shattered, and Gerald drew twice...

...and then one of his draws started to glow. Off in the far distance, a gun cocked.

"So you have Heaven's Sphere..." Alexander set a hand to his face, a soft laugh passing between his lips. "Not that you can use it..."

"Yet." The younger Laxina folded his hand up and concluded, "I end my turn."

In turn, Alexander drew another card and shrugged. "I pass again," he said, fanning himself with the cards in his hand. The swords faded further, and his monsters stretched their limbs, weapons at the ready.

One more card slid into Gerald's hand, and he nodded, thinking, _This is the last piece I need._ He slid a card into his Duel Disk, stating, "I begin by playing Double Spell. By discarding a Magic Card..." He slid Exchange into his Graveyard. "I may play any Magic Card in your Graveyard. As I recall, you discarded Heavy Storm earlier."

Rather than say anything, Alexander merely slammed one fist on the armrest of his throne.

Both the Double Spell card and the Exchange card appeared before Gerald, and then magic began to flow from the latter into the former. Color slowly drained from Exchange, until it was left black-and-white, and it shattered into ten thousand pieces, scattered along the crystal panels. The Double Spell card then rippled, becoming a copy of Heavy Storm.

As it had previously, the magic protecting the arena from the vacuum of space faded, and a monstrous gust of wind tore across the crystal panels, pulling at the duelists. Gerald and Alexander took tight grips on their armrests, and Alexander's monsters rammed their weapons (or in Brron's case, his fingers) into the edges of the panels beneath them.

However, Alexander's Cloak and Dagger and Spirit Barrier, along with the Swords of Revealing Light, were sucked off of the platform and flew out into space; the Trap Cards shattered, while the swords turned back into the stars that had formed them and flew off to their separate orbits.

The magic regained its strength, and the wind died down, leaving both duelists in a brief frenzy of activity as they straightened their hair. Once it was done, the Chosen of the Light set another card into his Duel Disk, noting, "Now I play the Magic Card known as Snatch Steal, taking control of Reign-Beaux. Let us see how the Overlord of Dark World likes being controlled."

Reign-Beaux's eyes glassed over, and its weapon fell to its side. Without any noise or signs of complaint, the demon stepped over the gap left by Spirit Barrier and walked across the platform, standing mindlessly in front of Gerald.

"But, to use the most popular turn of phrase, it won't be here for long," Gerald explained further, taking the glowing card from his hand. "I now offer Reign-Beaux as a Tribute for my Heaven's Gift... Of course, you know what I'm talking about."

A grimace crossed Alexander's face as he thought, _Oh, sure, my brother. You only start making quips when you've turned the duel around entirely..._

Light shone down on the field as the stars suddenly flared up, glowing so bright that it seemed there would be a million novas at once. Reign-Beaux's eyes widened further, and it raised its arms in a panic... only to stop and convulse, wings fluttering as it began to sweat. The sweat left lines on those black scales as Reign-Beaux opened its mouth, a soft white light glowing from within.

Beams of light found their way up and around the platform, some refracting as they passed through the cracked crystal panels around Gerald's chair, and one by one they made contact with Reign-Beaux. The light in its mouth grew brighter, and the horns on its head cracked as it shivered, sweating more. Soon its form began to swell, more and more light pouring into its body, stretching it to its limits.

Then the light grew so bright that even with his shades on, Gerald couldn't look directly at it. It burned away the Overlord's body entirely, leaving nothing in its wake but dust and ashes, and the perfect orb of Heaven's Sphere arose, its marble surface unflawed once again. (2,000/1,000)

"Heaven's Gifts have such a tendency for overblown entrances," Alexander muttered.

"As do Cards of Night," Gerald countered.

"_Touche_, brother."

After a moment to adjust his sunglasses, Gerald raised his hand and pointed to Goldd, nodding to Heaven's Sphere. His Life Points suddenly dropped to 1,200 as he said, "I use the effect of Heaven's Sphere, paying half of my Life Points to double its Attack Points for the turn. Now... destroy Goldd with your Light of Justice."

The starlight surrounding them seemed to intensify, and Heaven's Sphere glowed all the brighter, light shining off of it. (2,000/1,000 - 4,000/1,000) All of the power flowed into a single point on the sphere's front, and it began to spin on its axis, the point radiating up and off of it, hovering in the space before it. The Dark World monsters stepped back, frowning.

A massive surge of energy hit the point, and suddenly Heaven's Sphere jerked back, the point turning into a singular ray of light that blew a tremendous hole through Goldd. All the Wu-Lord of Dark World could do was cry out as the light burned through it, consuming its entire frame and reducing it to ashes in an instant.

The light passed by Alexander's throne, shooting off into space, and he recoiled, hissing. His Life Points sank to 2,000 in the interim.

Once the light faded, Gerald crossed his arms, Lei Lei grinning behind him. "Your turn, Alexander," he said.

The Dark Conduit scowled, drawing another card as the other fiends on his field edged away from what was left of Goldd. Turning his card over, he then blinked and smiled, holding it up. "No facedowns," he said, "no protection from this. I play a second Dark World Lightning. And you only have one target to hit."

Gerald and his Image looked to each other helplessly.

Alexander snapped his fingers, and as it had before, a bolt of black lightning shot down from the void. It struck Heaven's Sphere, and for a moment nothing seemed to happen. The duelists could see the white aura surrounding the Heaven's Gift, and it was holding the lightning at bay...

But then the black electricity ate through the aura, and it made contact with the sphere itself. With that, Heaven's Sphere shattered, pieces flying every which way.

One of Gerald's hands went to his chest, and he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling what felt like a knife sawing through him.. but then he exhaled and straightened up, wiping the sweat from his brow. Lei Lei patted him on the shoulder, shaking his head in sadness.

"Right," Alexander thought as he took a card from his hand and slid it into his Graveyard, paying off Dark World Lightning. "You've already had it die on you once, so the pain of subsequent destructions are substanially curbed. Either way, I discarded another Beiige... and like so many Dark World monsters, he springs back from that."

Beneath their feet, the seal of the Dark Duel roiled, and one of the lines in it expanded. A spear cut up through it, and another of the skeletal spear-wielders pulled himself out of the gap, groaning as he rose to his feet. (1,600/1,300)

_I'm completely open,_ Gerald thought, blinking. _What am I supposed to do about this?_ He then jokingly thought, _Any suggestions, Lei Lei?_

The Indomitable Fighter's response was to point at Gerald's Graveyard slot, and the lazy young man blinked, thinking, _Wait... I haven't used that yet..._

Raising his hand, Alexander made a flourishing twirl motion before he jabbed a finger towards Gerald. "Sillva," he ordered, "end the duel with Demonic Crosscut."

As he gave the order, Gerald slid a card out of his Graveyard and tucked it in his pocket.

The Warlord of Dark World raised his sword and stepped forward, stuttering out of existence as he moved forward and stuttering back into view as he arrived in range... and then a gigantic dome of crackling electricity surrounded Gerald. The Chosen of the Light smirked at Sillva through his protective field, and the demon glared before shaking his head and moving back.

_That... I have no idea what could cause an effect like that,_ Alexander thought. "Brron, care to take a shot?" he asked aloud.

A chuckle left the Mad King of Dark World as he pounced forward, those long-fingered hands extended... and then the dome of energy burst into view again, causing him to stumble back. He touched it, and then let out a yell as a shock ran through him. Parts of Brron were still smoking as he walked away, one eyebrow twitching.

One of Alexander's eyebrows twitched as well as he finally said, "Brother... what in the name of Gehenna just happened?"

Gerald reached into his pocket and produced the card he had taken from his Graveyard. "This is Shock Turtle," he explained. "By removing it from my Graveyard, I can reduce all battle damage dealt to me to zero for that turn. It ended up in the Graveyard when you played Dark World Dealings..."

"That cheap trick?" Alexander clenched a fist, exhaling through his teeth as he growled. "You son of... I can't finish that, as we have the same mother, but that's just wrong..."

"Given the stakes in this duel," Gerald replied as he put the card back in his pocket, "I can't see things that way."

With a long sigh, Alexander waved for Gerald to take his turn.

Before Gerald could draw a card, however, the Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei stepped out from behind the chair and pointed at Sillva and Brron. The Beast-Warrior then pulled an arm back and curled his other arm forward, flexing his biceps with a low grunt. Sillva and Brron suddenly groaned and sank to their knees, panting as they sat there. Lei Lei chuckled and stepped back.

"What..." The Dark Conduit swallowed. "What just took place?"

"Lei Lei's Image Effect, All-Consuming Strike," Gerald replied, finally drawing his card. "Whenever your monsters attack me or a monster I control, they suffer his drawback - they switch into Defense Mode after the Battle Phase and can't switch out of it until after the End Phase of your next turn."

Alexander winced at that, thinking, _Even the Loyal Knightness in his deck can kill them now. And if he gets Heaven's Sphere back..._

That train of thought stopped as Gerald played his draw, saying, "I play another Messenger of Peace. Now Beiige isn't a threat, either."

Another of the white-robed missionaries stepped onto the crystal panels beside Gerald's chair, holding out his hand and glaring at the fiends. Sillva and Brron sank even lower on their knees, and Beiige stepped back, cowering behind his spear.

"And that's all I can do," the younger Laxina said.

Alexander drew his card so quickly that he risked tearing it. His face fell, and he thought, _Lightning Vortex? He doesn't have any monsters to use it on... I used Dark World Lightning too quickly. He only had enough Life Points to use Heaven's Sphere's effect once more. Foolishness..._ "I pass," he said aloud.

Gerald noded, reached for his next card.. .and then paused, yawning. He stretched in his seat, and Lei Lei then nodded, cracking his knuckles.

Across the platform, Alexander raised his arms in front of himself for reasons of self-defense.

"I choose not to pay for the Messenger of Peace," Gerald began; the white-robed man bowed and faded away as he said so. Glancing at his card, the young man slid it into his Duel Disk, announcing, "I activate Spell Sanctuary. I daresay you know what this does by now, so let's just search our decks..."

Off the edge of the platform, a number of small sparks began to come into being, crackling with barely-suppressed power. After a moment, they flew together, gathering into a single small star, its light shining over the platform.

Both men drew their decks out of their disks, fanned them out (both decks being thin by this point), and drew out a single Magic Card. Unbeknownest to either duelist, both had chosen Monster Reborn.

Sliding his deck back into the deck slot, Gerald played his chosen card, smiling. "And now I use Monster Reborn, and I think you know what I'm bringing back..." He paused, and then added with a certain amount of pain, "Brother."

"And you admit it only when you're about to win," Alexander said, sighing as he rested his head on his palm.

The familiar stylized ankh flashed over the platform, and a tiny ball of light rose up from the crystal panels. This ball expanded outward, and the light faded, revealing the mighty orb that was Heaven's Sphere. (2,000/1,000)

"I use its effect," Gerald said, his Life Points down to 600. "Heaven's Sphere, attack Sillva..." He sighed. "And happy birthday, Alexander."

Even as he braced for impact, the man in green said, "Thank you, Gerald."

Once more, the Heaven's Gift shone, its aura surging. (2,000/1,000 - 4,000/1,000) A single point of light rose from its surface, and it channeled power into that point, which began to swell. And then it unleashed the gathered light...

The beam burst across the field, shattering the crystal panels over which it passed, and burned a hole through the Warlord of Dark World on impact. Not even slowing down, it blasted through Alexander, causing the elder Laxina to cry out, and seared a hole through the jade throne as it flew into space. Alexander's Life Points dropped to zero.

**0000000**

Far behind the Prime Material, the battle between Gerald and Alexander sent vibrations through reality, some of which touched the obelisk beyond the ruined barricade. The cue caused the awakened entity within it to emerge, looking out across the planes as it took the released energy in.

**AH, CONFLICT,** it thought. **BEING TRAPPED IN THERE DEPRIVED ME OF SUCH POWER... I'M NOT ABOUT TO LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN. **Its thoughts reached out, and it began to study the Prime Material.

Its sights fell on the Twin Cities, and had it a mouth it would have smiled. **APPEALING,** it said to itself. **THE RULES PREVENT ME FROM JUST INTRUDING... BUT I HAVE OTHER THINGS I CAN DO TO STEP IN. ONCE I HAVE DETERMINED WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE MY IMPRISONMENT, I WILL HAVE TO GET STARTED...**

**0000000**

In the mirror room, Degas watched the final blow land in the duel, and then shut the mirrors off. He had far more pressing concerns. Part of him was attuned to Gehenna, the world of Darkness, and he could sense the entity awakening.

"So, you're awake now..." he said to himself, pushing his sunglasses back up. "I wonder which battle did that?" He grinned, interlacing his fingers. "Our contingency plan may just work at this rate..."

**0000000**

The situation in the Mall of America was currently at a stage halfway between "panic" and "full-blown chaos", as people awakened and had no idea what had happened to them while they were unconscious. Still, it remained controlled enough so that someone who moved through the crowd with a fixed destination and a sense of "Stay out of my way" could make it to his intended point of arrival without too much hassle.

And so Ulysses Cantrell, Chad Montmelier, Sol Kilkarn, and Demetrius Lark all stood in a men's room on the first floor, Chad holding a Old Navy bag with Gerald's old clothing in it. The questions came quickly enough:

"Why am I holding Gerald's clothes?" Chad asked.

"What are we doing in a restroom?" Sol asked.

"Where did Lucifer go?" Demetrius asked.

"Be quiet for a moment," Ulysses said to all three of them. "I can only answer one question at a time, and I have no answer for the first and last of those questions. What I can say, however, is that I sense a great amount of dark energy in here. If Gerald left, he likely left from here."

Sol blinked and then snapped his fingers, saying, "Which means that if he comes back, this is the most likely point where he'll come back."

"Exactly," the older man said. "We will just have to wait until he does."

There was silence, and then Chad said, "I still want to know why Gerald left his clothes behind."

Demetrius shuddered and said, "Now I do, too..."

**0000000**

With Alexander's defeat, the illusion of the space-bound crystal platform faded away, and the Duel Disks shut off, the holograms fading. Heaven's Sphere glowed for a moment more, and then vanished. With a smile, Lei Lei faded as well, and the lines of the Dark Duel flared up before burning away. Now both duelists were alone, and the room returned to its previous black state.

"Sleep, Sehnsucht," Gerald whispered. His Duel Disk shone and vanished, leaving only the straps of his old one. He leaned forward in his chair.

At first Alexander just sat there, and then he began to chuckle, his Duel Disk evaporating into black smoke. He sat up, still laughing softly.

"Brother?" Gerald asked, one of his eyebrows going up. "Why are you laughing?"

Shaking his head, Alexander looked into his younger brother's eyes, and Gerald recoiled at the touch of darkness in them. "You thought that because you defeated me in a Dark Duel, I would be separated from the Dark Conduit and be my 'old self', didn't you?"

The shock only lasted a second, Gerald cleared his throat and replied, "Well... so far it's worked that way..."

With another laugh, Alexander continued, "The Dark Conduit isn't the Darkness Infection, Gerald. It takes more than that to purge it from this world. First and foremost..." He shook his head again. "That wasn't my real deck. Every duelist has a true deck, one that they have used for a while and to which their soul is attuned. That's why I couldn't use my Image with it - my Image, my soul, is attached to my real deck and would not have given me an advantage with the Dark World deck."

"Wait... I heard something about soul cards in Shadow Games..." the Chosen of the Light noted.

Nodding, the Dark Conduit explained, "In Dark Duels, real decks are much the same way. I'm not sure how many cards you have to change before it stops being your 'real deck', but if it isn't, then losing a Dark Duel has no real effect. The Pillars were all using their real decks, in case you were wondering." He gave another laugh, resting his arms on the armrests. "Your winning this duel had no effect."

Gerald turned pale, collapsing into his chair.

As Alexander sat up, he sighed, dusting off his pants legs. "I dueled you to see just how powerful you were," he went on. "After all, anyone who could convince the Light to channel a powerful force through them has to have some potential. You're even stronger than I thought. This is not a good thing..." He paused. "We will have to go with the _second_ idea."

"Second?" Gerald asked.

Alexander's right hand slid into his jacket. "Dueling you isn't the only way to deal with you, Gerald." His hand came back out holding a gun. "There are other ways. I'm glad I got to see you again, but goodbye."

"Alexander!" Gerald shouted, jumping to his feet.

This saved his life. Alexander had aimed at a seated target, and when his brother stood up he had to readjust his aim - the heart of a seated target is about where the kidneys are on a standing figure. In addition, his surprise caused his hand to waver. But he still pulled the trigger.

A shot to the stomach is just as critical as one to the heart. It passed through Gerald's abdomen and exited out of his side.

Hollywood would have one believe that a gunshot victim would go flying across the room, but this was done to make gunfights more dramatic. Following the truth of the matter, Gerald set a hand over the wound, glanced up at his brother in disbelief, and then curled up into a ball, falling to the ground in front of his chair.

Setting the gun down, the man in green bent down, set his hands on Gerald's body and concentrated. A portal unfolded beneath the Chosen of the Light's body, and he sank out of view.

Now alone, Alexander glanced at his hands, and then set his head in his hands and fell to his knees, tears rolling over his fingers.

**BLASTING VEIN**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Effect: Destroy one Magic or Trap Card on your field. Draw two cards.  
_Note: This card will be used by Axel in an upcoming GX episode. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode._

**GOLDEN ROAD**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: The Yellow Brick Road, heading towards the Emerald City.  
Effect: Both players draw four cards, and then discard any two cards from their hands.  
_Note: This card first appeared in Brian Corvello's "Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Messiah". All creative credit goes to him. Used with permission._

**SECRET INSTALLATION**  
Type: Normal Magic Card  
Image: Three men in dark black suits wiring a bomb to a door handle.  
Effect: Choose one face-down card in your Magic and Trap Zones. Give control of that card to your opponent. (You may not play this card if your opponent does not have an open Magic and Trap Zone.) Your opponent may not look at or activate that card until their next turn.

**BLACK NOSTRUM**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: DARK/Plant/Lv. 1/400/400  
Image: An ugly plant root in the shape of a man, leaves sprouting from its "hands and feet".  
Effect: When this card is discarded from your hand by a card effect, you gain 1,000 Life Points.

**SHOCK TURTLE**  
Type: Effect Monster Card  
Statistics: LIGHT/Machine/Lv. 4/100/2000  
Image: A metal turtle with crossed green lightning bolts on its back.  
Effect: When this monster is in your Graveyard, you may remove it from the game in order to reduce all Battle Damage dealt to you this turn to 0.

**INDOMITABLE FIGHTER LEI LEI**  
Image Effect: "All-Consuming Strike" - During your opponent's End Phase, all monsters that attacked during their Battle Phase that turn are switched to Defense Mode, and may not change their Battle Position until the End Phase of their next turn.

_And finally, I have taken liberties with Dark World Lightning. The real card can only affect face-down cards, but I chose to strengthen it for this chapter._

Coming next chapter: Questions are answered. Plans unfold. Punishments come down. Forces of great power take action. And darkness grows all the stronger. Nobody duels, but everyone feels pain.

It may seem vague, but you will come to understand. Be ready for Chapter Thirty-Two, "World Rent Asunder."

The Pillar Saga has ended. The Misfortune Saga begins.


	33. World Rent Asunder

**_THE DATE AND TIME... JUNE 27TH, 2005. JUST ABOUT TEN IN THE MORNING._**

**_THE PLACE: THE PART OF MINNESOTA GENERALLY REFERRED TO AS "THE TWIN CITIES". IT INCLUDES BOTH MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL. NEAR THE LATTER IS BLOOMINGTON._**

**_THE EVENTS: GERALD LAXINA HAS JUST KILLED THE PILLAR OF DEATH, RESTON, AND DEFEATED THE DARK CONDUIT - WHO HE HAS FINALLY ADMITTED IS HIS BROTHER, ALEXANDER LAXINA. AFTER HIS DEFEAT, ALEXANDER LAXINA MOCKED HIS BROTHER FOR THINKING THE FIGHT WAS OVER AND SHOT HIM IN THE STOMACH WITH A PISTOL. GERALD SURVIVED, BUT IS NOW IN CRITICAL CONDITION._**

**_THE SITUATION: THE CHOSEN OF THE LIGHT IS IN SEVERE DANGER, HIS ALLIES ARE IN DISARRAY, MUCH OF MINNESOTA BELONGS TO THE DARKNESS, AND ALTHOUGH THE PILLARS ARE DEFEATED, THE HAND OF DARKNESS AND THE DARK CONDUIT HAVE OTHER PLANS._**

**_THE ASSESSMENT..._**

**_THE PRIME MATERIAL IS SO MUCH FUN!_**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: World Rent Asunder**

Static filled the air in the Mall of America men's room, and the four men gathered within it - Ulysses Cartnell, Chad Montmelier, Sol Kilkarn, and Demetrius Lark - could smell a vague scent of ozone on the room's air. 

"Ugh," Demetrius groaned. 

Ignoring him, Sol announced, "That must be the portal opening! Everyone get back a few steps, give Gerald some room!" 

The men stepped back, Chad shifting the bag of Gerald's clothing in his hands. In front of them, a thin black line drew itself horizontally in the air, from one of the sinks to one of the stalls. It irised out, unfolding into a black, swirling hole in the air. Black energy crackled around it, and then something emerged. 

With a sick smack, Gerald Laxina fell out of the portal onto his back, hand flopping down beside him as he hit the tiles. Blood leaked from his side, and his skin was turning pale. The reason was obvious - a bullet hole gaped in his side. 

The portal vanished, and after a second to adjust, Demetrius yelled, "Good lord!" 

Everyone in the room shared his sentiments, and they surged forward in a human mass... until Ulysses raised a hand and said, trying to stay calm, "Back away for a moment, I need space." 

"What can you do?" Chad asked, his tone just below a screech. 

Instead of answering in words, Ulysses took an aloe leaf from his pocket. His hand crushed it, and he knelt beside Gerald, pants staining themselves in the spreading pool of blood. The hand with the aloe pressed against the gunshot wound, and he began to chant in a language most modern humans did not know existed. 

Green light shone from under Ulysses's hand, and the bleeding suddenly stopped, the wound retracting a bit under his touch. 

As the old man stood up, adjusting his coat, the onlookers just stared, and then Sol said, "What... did you just do?" 

"My forefathers were druids, and we have preserved magic that predates the building of Stonehenge," Ulysses replied. "That spell amplified the power of the aloe leaf and encouraged his body to stop bleeding." He then frowned. "But it didn't actually cure the injuries. We need to get him to a hospital!" 

"_What_ hospital?" Chad asked, his expression grim. "The Darkness Infection shut down every business and service in the area! The hospital's just another source of Infected!" 

His patience gone, Ulysses shouted, "Then let's at least get him off the floor! I can't work anything that will heal him in a place like this!" 

"_Gentlemen!_" Demetrius yelled loudly enough for both of them to hear. "Let us get Mr. Laxina back to the hotel for now. We can discuss further options there. Just standing around sniping at each other is wasting time he does not have!" 

A moment passed, during which everyone involved cooled down, and then they nodded. Gathering around Gerald, the four men hefted his unconscious form up and carried him out of the restroom. 

Even though people had awoken and were now milling around the Mall of America, nobody stopped to question why four men, one of whom had blood stains on his pants, were carrying an unconscious, bloody young man with a bullet wound in his stomach towards the parking lot. They all decided that the situation was not one they could actually affect. 

**0000000**

_Just once,_ Oliver Laxina thought as he set down his fork, _I'd like to have a microwaveable meal where the packaging doesn't taste better than the food._ He sighed, getting up and stretching his back. The last week in St. Paul had proven very odd, indeed, but at the least his food supplies were holding up. 

Thinking of the time passed caused him to think of the date, and he sat back down, sighing again. _Five years... I haven't heard from Alexander in that long. I don't know what made him go after Gerald like that, but you would think five years would be enough time to recover from it._

His train of thought cut off as his cell phone rang, and he tilted his head. Picking it up, he glanced at the front of it and frowned - it wasn't a number he recognized. One hand flicked it open, and he pressed it to his ear, saying, "Who is this?" 

"Pardon ze intrusion, Monsieur Laxina, but zis is important..." 

"Lucifer Allumette?" Oliver said in confusion, eyebrow raising. "How did you get my number?" 

"You are better off not knowing, and I doubt I could explain it to any real degree. But zat is beside the point, and I do not have long. Go to ze Minneapolis Hilton now - your son is in grave condition." 

The phone nearly fell out of Oliver's hand. He caught it, pressed it to his ear, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he went pale. "Are you sure?" 

"I am afraid so, Monsieur Laxina." 

"But... How am I supposed to get to Minneapolis? I'm in St. Paul without a car." 

"Desperate times, my friend. Ze blue Pontiac in ze motel parking lot has its keys in ze ignition. You can apologize after ze situation settles down." 

A low chuckle left Oliver's throat as he thought about it. "Faye would never let me get away with this," he muttered. 

"And my late Fabrizia would agree wiz her. But zat is irrelevant. I must go now. Get to ze Hilton as quick as you can." 

"All right. Goodbye." Oliver flipped his phone shut and shook his head, thinking, _Gerald... be safe. Your mother would never forgive you otherwise._

**0000000**

Lucifer opened his eyes, cutting off his connection with the cell phone, and only then dared to look around his current location. 

After his violation of the rules, the forces of Dreams had plucked him from the Prime Material and dragged him through the dimensional barriers without any delay. Now he was seated on a small glass circle, and all around him glowed the landscape of the world of Dreams, the Uncertain Landscape - Mythos. 

From where he was sitting, Lucifer could see a soft pink landscape, roiling beneath him and slowly warping around his position. The trick to Mythos was that it was a psychotropic plane; it reacted to the thoughts and will of those passing through it. However, the glass he sat on isolated his mind from the plane, and so it merely roiled until such time as another came to collect him. 

Lucifer's condition was nothing to envy, either. He had managed to send the message to Oliver under the same rules that allowed prisoners a phone call; other than that, his powers were gone. The reason why had to do with the length of black chain wrapped up his arms, looped and locked around his wrists and elbows. A pair of black anklets complemented the chain, and a steel collar sat around his neck. All of these locked him in his human form and prevented use of any of his powers. 

As he stewed on the glass circle, the Beloved of Fire could see the landscape begin to flatten out and turn into a field of flowers - tulips, from the looks of it. The sky overhead faded to a soft blue, and a gentle sun was shining. 

Lucifer groaned. _Why must the guard always do this?_ he thought, hanging his head. _It only makes it look condescending._

The shifting land came to a halt directly in front of the glass, and a humanoid figure rose up from beneath the ground. It had subtle feminine traits, made visible by the sheer silk robes it wore, but whether or not the figure was a woman was impossible to tell - its face was hidden by a white mask with two red eyes painted on it. Delicate hands rubbed against each other. 

"Lucifer Allumette," the figure said in a lilting falsetto, setting a hand to its chest. "My, my... we've done a naughty thing, haven't we?" 

"Spare me your niceties, Ralcietto, One who Watches Over the Fantastic," Lucifer said, climbing slowly to his feet. "Neither of us are in ze mood for it." 

Adjusting its mask, Ralcietto shook its head, sighing. "I suppose you're correct. But really, Lucifer... breaking the Balance's own rules? Do you have any idea what you set off?" 

"I have ze feeling you're about to tell me." 

"Lucifer, I have to take you to the Awakened." The One circled a hand over its chest, head lowered, before it continued, "What you did... even the Dreaming Perfection is mad at you. They're talking oblivion." 

Both of Lucifer's hands gripped the other until their knuckles turned white, and he began to sweat, whispering, "The Awakened? Are you certain, Ralcietto?" 

With a groan, Ralcietto stepped onto the glass circle and gestured towards the far interior of the land. The circle began to float towards it, and then the One nodded to its passenger. "You've made a big mistake, Lucifer," it said. 

"It was in ze name of friendship," the prisoner muttered back. 

"You have better hope it was worth it." 

**0000000**

After waking up, Laura had taken a quick shower and changed into another of the outfits she had purchased - judging by the cable channels in the hotel room - the day before. Once that was over with, she had headed out of the hotel, waiting for Chad and Gerald to come back and to see what they were going to do next. 

Even though it was the end of June, the day seemed somewhat cold and forbidding. Clouds rolled in front of the sun, and a frigid breeze crossed in front of the Minneapolis Hilton, causing Laura to shiver in her white button-up blouse and red denim pants. Her hair was still a little wet, and she ran her fingers through it unthinkingly, checking for tangles. 

Two cars approached the building, and she jumped slightly, turning to them as they approached. One was the Corolla, which she was very familiar with, and the other... She wasn't sure exactly what type of car it was, but it was far out of her economic spectrum. Both cars parked, and she approached them. 

Chad climbed out of the Corolla's driver's seat, and Demetrius Lark slid out of the other car, a young man she didn't know sliding out of the passenger side. All three men went to the back of the Corolla, and Chad yelled to Laura, "We could use your help! Something went seriously wrong at the Mall!" 

Laura could not remember actually moving. All she knew was that, once Chad had said that, she was standing beside him and asking, "What happened? And who's the curly-haired guy?" 

Said man with curly hair replied, "Sol Kilkarn. Long story, but I'm on your side." 

The group opened the back doors of the Corolla, and then, to Laura's surprise, Ulysses stepped out. And then... 

As one, the men slid Gerald Laxina out of the back of the car, carefully lifting him into their massed arms. The Chosen of the Light laid limply in their grasp, arms dangling and a large hole in his side. 

Laura wanted to yell, but her vocal cords did not respond, and she couldn't get the part of her brain that controlled her mouth to work. Her eyes were wide and refused to blink as they took Gerald from the car. 

Turning to her, Chad frowned and said, "Get the door." 

She did so without any comment, and the group moved into the building. Laura followed them, mind still in shock. 

None of them saw the blue Pontiac pull into the hotel's parking lot a moment later. 

**0000000**

After the duel, time had blurred for Alexander. He knelt in the blank room, staring into the spot where he had shoved his brother's body into the ground, his eyes empty and dry. Nothing registered to his field of vision. 

Minutes passed. They linked together, and it was perhaps a half-hour later before he realized someone was standing beside him. He turned his head, and then shut his eyes, wincing as air passed over the dry corneas. Once they were back in good condition, he looked the visitor over. It was a thin, pale man with a bald head and sunglasses, dressed in a black suit, arms crossed. 

"Alexander?" the man asked. 

Only then did Alexander remember who this was. "You're... Degas, right?" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's... a long time's passed, hasn't it?" 

"You're not the Alexander I'm talking to," Degas said, pushing his sunglasses back up. "I'm talking to the Alexander who accepted the Dark Conduit three years ago, not the one I had to ferry around the United States for a year in order to find it. That Alexander I have no desire to talk to." 

Again Alexander closed his eyes, rubbing them before he muttered, "Wait... what year is it?" 

Degas sighed, a sound like wind through a cemetary's gates, and then grabbed the back of Alexander's head. "Hell with it," he muttered, and black energy crackled around his hand. 

It felt like a thousand cold fingers were digging through the young man's brain, and he screamed, fists clenching... and then everything made sense again, and his memories returned. Now he remembered where he was and what had happened. Why he had forgotten he wasn't sure. 

With a grunt, the Dark Conduit stood up, brushing off his knees. "Sorry about that," he said, stretching his arms. "It must have slipped a little. I hate it when it disconnects." 

"It's a nuisance, isn't it?" the Hand of Darkness replied, adjusting his sunglasses. "I assume you settled the problem?" 

"Would you believe he actually defeated me?" Alexander said as the two stepped out of the blank room. Degas snapped his fingers, and the door disappeared behind them, the room beginning to collapse. The man in green continued, "Still, a bullet to the stomach works as well as one to the heart..." 

The man in black raised a hand, interrupting, "You missed his heart?" 

"He stood up at the last second. My aim was thrown off. Whether or not he dies, he has to recover, and that takes him out of the equation for a while." 

"Let us hope you speak the truth," Degas said as they walked on. "We're nearing the critical moments. Outside interference can't be tolerated at this point." 

Alexander nodded, reaching out to open the next door. Both walked through it, entering the mirror room. 

There they stopped, however, because something that neither had expected was happening. Bethany stood in the center of the room, her back to the mirrors and her arms crossed. Her expression verged on a frown, but couldn't quite manage it, try as she might. Once Alexander came through the door, she looked at him with a firm stare. 

Rubbing the back of his head, Alexander muttered, "Hello, Bethany... you seem... determined right now..." 

The young woman turned to Degas, bowed her head, and said, "Degas." She then turned to Alexander and said, "We need to talk." 

"The four most terrifying words in the English language," Degas muttered. 

The man in green ignored that, saying to Bethany, "What about?" 

"Ever since you let me out of the pillar," Bethany replied, "the two of you have discussed your plans and your activities... They all seem to be focused at something, but..." She paused, took a breath, and then continued, "But I have no idea what it is. You just keep saying 'our goal' or 'the plan'. I have no idea what you're talking about." 

The man in black and the man in green stared at each other, and then Degas laughed softly, shaking his head. "She's got a point," he said, raising his hands. "We've had this planned for so long now that we never need to refer to things by name. Both of us know what we're talking about, but she doesn't." 

"The dangers of working together for too long," Alexander replied, shaking his head. "Either way..." He turned to his girlfriend and said, tone turning serious, "Bethany... I've kept it from you because I'm afraid. This is not a plan most people would condone. A few years ago, I would have thought of it as 'evil'. We aren't indulging in sweetness and joy here; you might be scared by it. Are you absolutely sure you want to know?" 

Defiance sparked in Bethany's eyes, something that Alexander was not used to seeing there; it barely edged out the usual concern. "I'm more afraid that something will happen to you and I won't even know what," she said, her arms crossing a bit tighter. "Tell me... tell me what you're doing here." 

The Hand of Darkness and the Dark Conduit turned to each other, and then both men sighed. "No use fighting with her, is there?" Degas asked. 

Alexander shook his head. "Not when she gets like this." 

Both men turned back to Bethany, and Degas said, "Very well. This will be better with visual aids, so please turn your attention to the mirrors..." 

**0000000**

A few minutes of negotiation between Ulysses and the security guard had ended with the group obtaining several more room keys for the Minneapolis Hilton, and thus there was a bit of room-shuffling. Right now, the group occupied three rooms, side by side; they had moved Gerald into the room on the left, and Ulysses was currently with him, preparing a spell to finish healing his wounds. The room on the right was set aside for Ulysses and Sol to stay in. 

The central room, meanwhile, was the original room that Gerald and Chad had occupied. Right now, Chad, Laura, Demetrius, and Sol were gathered around the table in the corner, pooling what information they had. There wasn't much of it, but they still shared it. 

Laura, having spent the entire time Reston was loose unconscious, had little to say. Chad related what he could of what he had seen, which still wasn't much. 

Demetrius, however, had a considerable amount of events to describe. He skimmed over his duel with Mako Tsunami (while interesting, it had little to do with the situation at hand), and then went over his discovery of Gerald's Infected form and his taking on the Darkness Infection. After a few moments for everyone to get over their shock, he discussed how he had taken the Infection himself, and ended with, "As I awoke, Gerald and Lucifer were both gone. I have no idea what happened after that." 

"So... The evidence leans towards Gerald defeating Reston, but where did he go after that?" Chad questioned. "And who shot him?" 

No answers were forthcoming, and the group as a whole decided to move on before the wondering drove them insane. 

It was Sol's turn to speak, and while he didn't have anything to say about Reston or the Mall of America events, he did have something of worth: "Father Young is on our side." He waited for the surprise to quell, and then described his duel with the priest and the aftermath. 

"Where is Father Young now?" Laura asked. 

Sol shook his head, brushing his curls out of his eyes. "I have no idea. He walked away after our duel and I didn't follow him. He probably went to confront Degas and Alexander himself... assuming he survived, I can't be sure of where he went after that." 

"From how you describe him," Demetrius said, interlacing his fingers in front of himself, "if he is still alive, I would start looking for him around the churches or other sites of importance to the Light... and given what's happened in this city, that would likely be the spots that the Pillars were defeated at." 

Chad extended his fingers one after the other as he recited, "The Cathedral of St. Paul, the Guthrie Theater, the High Bridge, and presumably the Mall of America. The ruins in downtown Minneapolis are probably another spot, as Sol met him there and they mark where Jacob Waterknot was killed." 

The group nodded, and then Laura turned to Chad and said, "So... what do we do now?" 

Sweat beaded itself on the tall man's forehead, and he wiped his face off with the back of his hand, saying, "Why are you asking me?" 

"You came to this city with Gerald," Sol answered. "That gives you the closest thing we have to senority in this little group. Gerald is currently incapacitated, so it falls onto you to make the next move." 

After a moment's stammering, Chad began to drum his fingers together. "But why can't Demetrius or Ulysses make the decision? They're older than I am... and presumably wiser..." He wiped his forehead again. "Right?" 

Demetrius shook his head. "Ulysses is too busy keeping Gerald alive," he said. "As for myself, I am afraid I cannot assume authority. A celebrity I am, but a general I am not." 

"So... boss?" Laura asked, leaning towards Chad slightly. "What is our next action?" 

_Laura, I think I hate you,_ Chad thought. Aloud, he intoned, "Ummmmm..." _What would Gerald do?_

And then it hit him, and he sighed in relief. Standing up, he leaned on the table, using his height to his advantage. "Sol, you go with Demetrius. Take Lucifer's car... much like you did to get here... and search this city for Father Young. We've just discussed where to start looking, so use that as your guideline. If you can't find him, come back here and we'll work out what to do next. Laura and I will stay here and wait for Gerald to recover. Until the Darkness makes its next move, we have no way to strike at them, so our hands are tied. Understand?" 

As Chad sat back down, Sol and Demetrius glanced to him with a hint of surprise, and then stood up and bowed, replying, "Yes, sir! Let's go!" They left in unison, and the door shut behind them. 

Laura blinked a few times, and then said, "Wow. Commanding." She then paused, and added, "But why did you sound like Gerald?" 

"I was impersonating him," Chad confessed. 

**0000000**

Sol Kilkarn shut his eyes as he and Demetrius Lark headed for the elevator, a sigh passing his lips. _How did it come to this?_ he thought. _Gerald is critically injured, the Pillars are gone, and now I'll heading into the city with the American Number One, looking for a man who until two days ago was our enemy. The situation is changing faster than I can keep up with._

Demetrius, meanwhile, thought, _Natalie would go berserk if she saw me like this. Risking my life - not just my title but my life - to help a bunch of kids shut down the Darkness and rescue the world. I guess they were right when they said taking up a Duel Disk came with an obligation to save the world at least once. I've come a long way from Alabama..._

As the two men walked along, an older man stopped them in the hallway, hands in his pockets. He looked like an older, weathered version of Gerald, with graying brown hair and a noble demeanor. He wore a light brown suit, and there was a brown trenchcoat over it. "Excuse me," he said with a tired tone of voice, "but which room is Gerald staying in?" 

"And why do you want to know?" Sol asked, suspicious. 

In response, the older man took out his wallet, opened it and tipped it towards them. His driver's license was visible, identifying him as Oliver Laxina. 

The duelists recoiled, and then Sol stammered, "Sorry about that, sir! I didn't know you were his father!" 

"Forgiven," Oliver said with a calm smile. "Which room is he staying in?" 

Demetrius sighed, gesturing down the hall. "Three doors down. But you may not like what you see." 

"As I expected..." Oliver sighed, and then nodded. "Thank you. Good luck with your quest." 

"Thank you," both duelists said before the men headed their separate ways. 

**0000000**

Graffiti still marked the walls of the Cathedral of St. Paul, and its furnishings were still scattered about all over the place. But as light filtered in through the stained glass, a calm aura hovered over the wreckage, and the altar still stood unmarred. With the defeat of Jean-Vic Viper, the Darkness had released its hold on the church, and peace reigned within its walls. 

In front of the altar, an aging man in a black jacket and pants knelt on the floor, hands clasped before him and a cross dangling before his white shirt. Whispered prayers left his lips, and his eyes were shut, mind focused on repeating words he had said five thousand times before. Even now, two days after shedding the darkness from him, the light made him shiver slightly as he knelt there. 

"Amen," Father Young finally said before slowly rising, dusting off his knees. They were beginning to ache, and he frowned at that, thinking, I hope it's not arthritis. At my age it's getting to be too real a possibility... He crossed himself and sighed. 

_Two days ago,_ he thought further, _I tried to reenter the lair of Degas and Alexander... but they've sealed the door against me. By now they will likely order any servants they have to hunt me down... The Pillar of Death was defeated this morning, I sensed that much. They never told me any of their plans after the Pillars, so I'm not even sure what to look for. _

A low rumbling vibrated through the air of the cathedral, and Father Young looked around, trying to place it. One hand settled around his cross as he placed his other hand to his chin. What he had left of his dark powers was causing static to buzz across his mind. 

Something lowered down from the ceiling, coming to rest behind the altar before rising to its feet. At first it seemed to be impossibly generic, but after a moment its features and limbs shaped themselves into a more recognizably "shaped" shape. It appeared to be a tall, strong man of about 30, with short hair the color of clay and sallow gray skin. "He" wore a tight red satin shirt and black leather pants, and a black denim jacket hung off of his shoulders. His eyes were... iridescent; all the colors of the rainbow played across them. 

"You... you're Father Emil Young, correct?" the newcomer said, his voice low-pitched and flat. 

The priest frowned, crossing himself before saying, "That's what I call myself, yes. And you are?" 

"A friend of an enemy... but don't think of me as your enemy just because of that, Father. I understand you chose to reject the Darkness some two days ago, correct?" 

"It was the wisest decision I have ever made," Father Young replied. "What? Are you here to talk me back into it? If so, foolishness." 

The newcomer shook his head, his eyes flickering as he did so. "I would never have so blatant a purpose," he said. "I simply want... to show you the truth behind truths." 

"What on Earth is that supposed to mean?" the priest asked, holding up his cross. "Is that some sort of doubletalk?" 

Again the newcomer shook his head, but this time he chuckled. "I am no vampire, Father. They may well be extinct by this point, anyway. And even if I was... your faith is a shallow thing. I would not have flinched." 

The cross fell from Father Young's fingers as he frowned, thinking, _He's right... I don't know what to believe._

One of the stranger's hands lifted, and he said, "You seek truth, don't you? Once you believed in the Church, but that has passed. Then you believed in Degas and Alexander, but they lied and deceived you. You still want to know what to believe, yes?" 

_How much does he know about me?_ Father Young thought. _He is Darkness, I can sense that, but so far he looks right through me. I... don't have a real choice._ "I do... but what 'truth' are you going to show me?" 

"The truth at the center of this dispute," the stranger told him. "The truth of the Balance and the reality of the universe. Everything that you wanted to know, I can tell you. I will not lie. I have no reason to." 

Foreboding settled into the priest's mind, and he contemplated the offer. _I... I want to know. But I only have his word that he won't lie... This could just be the Darkness's attempt to lead me back to their side._ Blinking, he then thought, _Damn it all, Emil. You had the willpower to give up the power the Darkness gave you when you realized their way was a lie. You have the willpower to take this offer and reject the gifts if they aren't true. No more deliberation and hand-wringing._

"Show me," he said. 

Holding up his hand, the stranger waved it up and over, revealing a rip in the air. This widened, becoming a black portal hovering unsupported. With a bow, the stranger gestured towards it. "It's all on the other side." 

After a moment to cross himself, Father Young stepped into the portal. The stranger followed, and it sealed itself behind them. 

All that remained was a trail of smoking footprints where the strange man had walked. 

**0000000**

With Sol and Demetrius absent and Ulysses watching over Gerald in the next room, there was little if anything for Laura and Chad to do. The two took up positions on opposite sides of the room, bent over their decks and sorting through their cards. It kept their minds off what had become of their comrade in arms.

Chad had just finished one look-through when he paused, frowned, and looked through the cards again, blinking. His frown deepened, and he muttered, "Could I have changed that much?"

"What's the matter, Chad?" Laura asked, straightening out her deck and sliding it back into the Duel Disk.

"Totem of the Merciful Lion," he replied, tapping his deck. "My Heaven's Gift... it's gone. I've just gone through my cards twice in a row and I can't find it. How can I lose a card like that?"

"Are you sure you didn't take it out of the deck and forget about it?"

"Why would I take a card that important out of my deck?"

Before the discussion could go any further, a soft knock came on the door. The two duelists looked to each other, and then Chad slid his deck back into his Duel Disk. The two stood up, slowly moved to the door, and swung it open, prepared to confront whoever was on the other side.

An older man who looked much like Gerald held up his hands, frowning. "I mean you no harm," he told them.

Both Duel Disks fell away, and their wielders let out sighs of relief. "I'm sorry," Chad said. "We just need to stay on guard. You're Gerald's father, right?"

"You remember me," Oliver Laxina said, sighing in relief as well. "I'm afraid I have trouble sticking in people's memories. It's followed me since my high school days." His face then turned serious, and he asked, "Where's Gerald? Lucifer told me something had happened..."

Chad looked to Laura. Laura looked back to Chad. Both looked worried, and neither were willing to speak.

Reading their expressions, Oliver lowered his head, quietly saying, "It must be worse than I thought. Please... tell me what happened. I just want to know what happened to my son..."

There was a pause, and then Laura took a deep breath before saying, "You might want to sit down, Mr. Laxina."

The three moved over to the room's table, and they sat down as a group, Oliver holding his head in his hands. His eyes lowered, and he stared at the table beneath him.

Long moments passed before anyone spoke. Finally, gathering his will, Chad spoke: "Someone shot Gerald."

At first it seemed like nothing had happened, and then Oliver folded his arms on the table and dropped his head onto them, sobbing into his elbows. All he could do for the next minute was cry, and all Chad and Laura could do was watch, afraid to touch him.

Once it was over, Gerald's father raised his head, wiping some leftover tears from his face with his sleeve. "Is he still alive?" he asked, his face radiating desperate hope for a positive answer.

"Yes," Chad said as fast as possible, setting a hand on the older man's shoulder. "He's alive, but badly wounded. One of our allies is caring for him in the next room. You can go see him if you want, but he's still unconscious."

"Maybe later..." Another sob left Oliver, and he set his face in one hand for a moment. Taking another breath, he then asked, "Who did it?"

Feeling helpless, Laura raised her hands and dropped them, giving a frustrated sigh. "No clue. They found him in the Mall of America after everything went down, a bullet wound in his stomach."

There was a long silence, and then Oliver shook his head, muttering, "No... they parted badly, but he would never do that... even after five years... He would never..."

Despite thinking he wouldn't want to know, Chad asked, "Who are you talking about?"

"Gerald's older brother."

The younger duelists shot each other a look of shock, Laura's eyes wide. "His... brother?" she asked Oliver.

"Yes... I think you might know who he is. His brother..." The older man turned grim. "Alexander."

The information elicted a simultaneous gasp from both Chad and Laura, and both pitched forward in their chairs, staring at him. "You can't mean-" Chad began.

Interrupting him, Oliver nodded, setting his head on his hands again. "Yes... The same Alexander you're fighting. They haven't spoken for five years, but that doesn't stop my sons from being brothers, does it?" He sighed. "Perhaps it would be best if I told you how things got this way. Do you have any coffee?"

It was a moment before Laura answered. "The machine is by the door."

As Oliver went to get his coffee, the younger two stared at each other again, still feeling a deep sense of shock.

**0000000**

As Degas and Alexander took up positions on either side of the mirrors, the mirrors themselves glowed and warped, now reflecting a design composed of five circles, four small and one large, formed into a cross shape and joined by glowing lines. The circle on the left was white, the one on the right was black, the one on top was pink and the one on bottom was purple.

"That's the Balance," Bethany said, sitting in Alexander's chair. "Alexander showed me that a long time ago... Looks like it's in alignment."

"In this illustration, yes," Degas replied, adjusting his sunglasses. "But ever since the Second Sundering, thousands of years ago, this is rarely if ever the case. Perfect alignment comes perhaps once a century. Usually, it looks more like this..." He snapped his fingers, and the lines went crooked, the circles moving into staggered positions. "As far as maintaining the Balance goes, minor deviation is unimportant."

Clearing his throat, Alexander picked up the thread: "The sort of imbalance that we need to be concerned about is when one of the facets passes a certain safe point. Nobody is sure exactly where that is, but when it's exceeded..." The Balance shifted on the mirrors, and the lines splintered away as the various circles moved further out of place. Now the center circle was labeled "Chaos".

Bethany nodded, saying, "I understand that. But what is it you two are trying to do?"

**0000000**

"In 1975 I moved to Germany," Oliver began, sitting down and setting down his coffee cup, "in order to study the nuances of my chosen field. As I told you when we met in St. Anthony Park, I'm a research scientist - I move from company to company as hired, aiding in their R&D departments. Back then I was just out of college, and I needed to round off the edges of my knowledge.

"I arrived in Bonn, back when it was still West German. One of my professors had arranged for me to live with a friend of his, and so I settled in for what I expected to be a quiet and enlightening two years.

"What my host had failed to mention when we exchanged letters beforehand was that he lived just up the street from the Handelhein family. More to the point, he had forgotten to mention that the Handelhein's second daughter was having a party for her twentieth birthday about a week after I had moved in. My host - Dr. Alois Neumann - was a close friend of the Handelheins, and so he brought me to the party with him."

Pausing, Oliver sipped his coffee and added, "When I walked into the Handelhein estate, the first thing I saw was Faye Handelhein, the birthday girl. I was convinced right then that I would never see anything more beautiful.

"Love has a way of blindsiding you, and so it did here. It was a long night until I could take Faye aside and talk to her alone. We spent an hour talking, until her mother noticed her absence and forced her to come back in so that the guests could stop standing helplessly around the cake.

"That was in 1975. On September 7th, 1976, I married Faye Handelhein."

Both of the younger duelists blinked, and then Chad shook his head, thinking, _Wait... Gerald told me his mother's name was Faye. Should have seen that coming._

"Twenty-eight years," Laura said aloud, eyes slightly widened. "Ummm... pardon my asking, but how?"

A chuckle left Oliver before he sipped his coffee again, saying, "My wife likes to say she married me so that she could never get bored with where she lived. She knew from the first day that we would be moving a lot, and she didn't mind. Staying in one place too long bores her.

"It took a while for her mother to adjust - after all, an American had swooped in from nowhere and married their daughter - but her father approved of me almost instantly. He was a very interesting man... He had seen the Great Depression and World War II pass by and hardly touch him. Some said he was a son of the Devil; he always just smiled and said that Chaos was scared of him."

Laura and Chad shot each other a look at that.

"In 1977, I finished my studies with Dr. Neumann and prepared to return to America," Oliver continued, noting the look without concern. "Getting Faye out of the country took some doing... but explaining that would require me to discuss international politics as they were in the 1970s, which would bore all of us and not help the story. Regardless, we returned to the United States and I began my career in earnest..."

**0000000**

"The state of imbalance in recent years has never quite alleviated itself," Degas answered Bethany, "regardless of how much politicking and negotiation the spirits of Light, Darkness, Dreams and Shadow do. It all too easily slides into unbalance, and Chaos reigns. I believe the Balance is outdated..." He shook his head, and the mirrors flickered, returning the Balance to its original state. "But there is a way, a very simple way to correct this problem. It's possible that other followers of the different facets have thought of it before, although I can't find any proof they ever acted on it."

"What would that be?" Bethany now asked, beginning to turn pale. She had an idea, and it made her stomach churn. Her hands pulled towards her shoulders.

Alexander adjusted his cuffs, sweating a little. _Bethany... are you sure you can handle knowing this?_ he thought. He looked to Degas, who stared at him through his sunglasses, and then coughed. "Bethany..." he said aloud. He paused, and then went on, "As it stands, the Balance is only needed because there are four facets - Light, Darkness, Dreams and Shadow. If one of these became powerful enough, the other three would cease to be necessary... They would become part of the strongest one, and the universe would become forever balanced."

There was silence, and then Bethany whispered, "You... you're going to make the Darkness stronger than anything else. You're going to destroy the Balance..."

"That is our goal," Degas stated, nodding. "We're going to make the Darkness so powerful that the Balance will shatter, and nothing can displace it. Not even Chaos. The Darkness will be all there is."

"But how is that going to work?" the girl asked, leaning forward in her chair. "You can't have a universe of nothing but darkness!"

"You can't have a universe of nothing but light, either," Alexander replied, wiping off his forehead. "Nothing can grow or change in a universe of pure light - it burns away and scours clean everything it touches. A universe of pure dreams would be a chaotic, shifting mass, never the same for two consecutive seconds. A universe of pure shadows is a universe of lies, where nothing is what it seems."

"And one of pure darkness?" she prodded him.

Degas spoke up, moving his sunglasses up. "There will be pain," he said. "I will not lie. But with time, the pain would fade. Out of pain comes wisdom, and out of wisdom comes harmony. If any of the moral elements could create a solid world, it would be Darkness." He then chuckled. "No wonder, that - the cardinal element of Darkness is Earth."

Bethany leaned back in her chair, and Alexander moved up to her, hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

"I... I think I will be..." The girl took a few deep breaths, hands resting on her knees. After a moment, she asked, "How... will you go about that?"

**0000000**

As Oliver refreshed his coffee, Chad said, "You know... the more I look at you, the more you resemble Gerald."

"He always did take after me," the older man replied. "His brother takes more after my wife. On that subject..." He sighed and resumed the tale. "In 1979, after Faye and I had just begun to settle into the United States, we received a message from Bonn. Faye's father had died of a heart attack at the age of 68. We were on the next plane to Germany, and arrived with enough time to help her family plan the funeral. I still miss him.

"A few months after we returned home, Faye learned she was pregnant. We were happy about this, as we had wanted children, and my finances were settled to the point that we could afford one. As it progressed, we learned it would be a boy, and we started thinking of names. One day, Faye asked me if we could name our son after her father. I had no objections whatsoever. Together, we decided to give him my grandfather's name for a middle name.

"On June 27th, 1980, our son was born. His name was Alexander Stephen Laxina."

Even though they had expected this, both of the listeners gasped, and then Chad snapped his fingers. "Wait a minute... Today is June 27th. That means it's his birthday!"

"And you said, two days ago, 'Don't forget two days from now'... So this is what you were talking about," Laura added. "So... that's what Gerald said when he told it, 'It's someone's birthday.' And why he was so unhappy about it..."

With a long sigh, Oliver nodded. "Yes... Today he's 25. I never thought things would turn out so badly when I saw him as a baby. Alexander was a beautiful child - he had such soft blonde hair... It darkened to my shade after a few months, but there were still blonde streaks in it. There still are, unless he's dyed it.

"For the next four years, we continued to move from place to place, following my job from one country to another and playing out my career path. I've developed quite a reputation over the years as the sort of man who can walk into a room and isolate just what you're doing wrong. Some people like me for that. Some of them hate me. But I digress..."

Oliver then paused, setting his coffee down and standing up. His audience did as well, and all three of them stretched out. They had, after all, spent the last fifteen minutes sitting down.

Once the kinks were worked out, they sat again, Oliver picking up his coffee before he started to talk again. "In 1985, Faye found out that she was pregnant again. Alexander was more than a little excited at the prospect of a baby brother or sister, as you might expect. When it came time for names, we agreed that this child would be named after one of my parents - whether it would be my mother or father depended on which gender it was. And Faye suggested that we give the baby one of her grandparents's names for a middle name."

"And it was a boy," Chad interrupted. "Gerald Randolph Laxina..."

Nodding, Oliver took another sip of his coffee. "The day he was born, after things calmed down, Alexander came up to me and told me something weird had happened while he was in the waiting room. He said some strange bald man dressed all in black walked up to him and touched his head, saying he was 'the one' and calling him by name, even though they had never met. It seems I should I have made note of that..."

_Degas,_ Chad and Laura thought together.

"Alexander loved his little brother," Oliver continued. "He always wanted to hold and play with the baby. As they grew up, Gerald returned that love. The boys were always close - Gerald took his first steps to hug Alexander..." He chuckled a bit, and then sighed. "We still moved a lot, at least once a year. Alexander adjusted quickly, but Gerald didn't - he could never understand why we would move into a new house and move out before the year was up. And then he stopped caring... and then stopped doing much of anything."

Lowering her head, Laura said, "So... that's why he's so..."

"Lazy," the older man finished for her. "Yes. It's not worth lying about. My younger son grew into a very lazy young man as the years passed. His older brother didn't like that too much - it seemed that a day could not pass without Alexander exhorting Gerald to take more of an interest in life. Gerald, for his part, kept asking Alexander why he couldn't slow down his own pace.

"It came to a head five years ago..."

**0000000**

The mirrors changed again, revealing an overhead view of the United States. "We started with Minnesota," Degas began, "because... well, if I may speak frankly, Minnesota is the easiest place to start. On the physical level, it rarely draws attention to itself, so we had no need to worry about overwhelming military response before we could get the barrier in place."

"The barrier?" Bethany asked, her head tipping to one side.

With a wince, the man in green rubbed at his shoulder. "We put a force field of dark magic over the Twin Cities once we established this base. As our influence spreads, so does it. It took a lot of dark energy... My shoulder still aches from time to time."

"May I continue?" the man in black asked. On receiving no reply, he nodded and resumed speaking. "On the supernatural front, Minnesota is a very quiet location. There are no places of power here; there aren't any major contact points, like the Gate to Hell near Raleigh, and there are no major loci, like Sakendar Isi in the Rockies. None of the major spirits would notice what we were up to until after we were prepared to deal with them. In short..." He smiled. "This state is spiritually and physically insignificant to any of the major players in the Balance, and thus made a perfect spot for the first strike."

"Look through the records of urban legends," Alexander added. "You never hear of anything on the same level as Mothman or the Jersey Devil; Minnesota has nothing even on the level of Bigfoot. The closest thing to folklore with a foot in this state is Paul Bunyan, and a New York ad agency came up with him back in 1910."

All Bethany did was nod, her eyes still wide as she took in their lecture.

Adjusting his sunglasses agan, Degas resumed, "Once we had established the base, our next step was to cement our hold. That is where the Darkness Infection comes in. We set it off in the center of St. Paul to start with, hoping that the Infected would sweep out those that avoided the initial dose and then take Minneapolis for us. If that failed, we had the Pillars to take up the slack."

"But they failed, didn't they?" she interrupted.

One hand went to Degas's chin, and he scowled. "No matter how much the Darkness twists a person, fools are still fools. The Darkness Infected didn't do a blasted thing for us in the long run, and the Pillars did little better." Taking a breath, he exhaled slowly. "That's why we were forced to let out another dose in the heart of Minneapolis. That took a lot of dark energy we were hoping to invest elsewhere..."

"Still, it meant we now had a firm grip on the Twin Cities," the Dark Conduit picked up as he stood again, dusting off his clothes as he stroked Bethany's hair. "We now needed to spread our control and the barrier with it, so we sent out the packages."

"Packages?" Bethany asked.

Wincing, Alexander said, "Right... you don't know the term. Darkness Infected specially imbued with dark energy and set on a timer; after a short period of time, they release another dose of the Darkness Infection over a ten-square-mile area. We sent them out into the suburbs and to various other towns in the area; by now we control everything in a two-hundred-mile radius from here-"

"But while that sounds impressive," the Hand of Darkness said, cutting his partner off, "we're actually at a standstill. Gerald killed the Pillar of Death, we had to hide the Darkness Infected to keep Sol and Demetrius from dueling them, Father Young has turned against us... All of our primary forms of activity are negated now. However, three years is a lot of time to plan, and so we have another course of action."

Something in Bethany's mind told her to be quiet, that she had heard too much and was making herself dangerous. Normally she would have heeded that message from her inner self, but today she rolled past it, asking, "What would that be?"

Degas and Alexander looked to each other for a moment, as though speaking silently. Degas frowned, but then nodded. Alexander smiled to her after that and said, "We have sent Hanzaki to contact someone important... in Haiti, of all places. Regardless of the outcome, we should be able to obtain a massive amount of dark energy, which we can use to activate our second wave."

"Second... wave?"

Again the two men looked to each other, and then both shook their heads. "All you need to know," the man in black said, "is that whether or not they succeed, we prevail. At the same time we send them out, we will be working on the finale. And once the finale launches... we win."

"And if it doesn't..." The man in green paused, and then shivered, arms wrapping around his shoulders. "There's... the contingency plan."

This time, when part of her mind told her to stay quiet, Bethany listened.

**0000000**

"Five years ago?" Laura asked, moving her hair out of her eyes as she leaned forward. "That's when my sister's fiance dueled someone who threw his deck away... Gerald picked it up, and that's what started him dueling..."

Nodding, Gerald's father said, "The week before that happened, Gerald and Alexander got into another argument. Alexander was furious with his brother for letting his life pass him by, just as he had felt so many times before. They fought that morning, and I had to separate them before it got any worse. Later that day, I was in the basement, Faye was in the dining room cleaning up after lunch, and Gerald was in the living room, reading... Out of nowhere, Alexander headed downstairs and told Gerald off once again..." He shook his head. "And then he hit his brother across the face before he stormed out of the house."

Laura winced, and Chad asked, "Why would he turn violent? Had he done anything like that before?"

"No... which is something I still don't understand. Alexander had little patience with his brother's laziness, but he had never hit him for it. Faye was horrified, and told him to stop, but Alexander was already halfway out the door. He had bought a car in the last town we'd lived in, and by the time I got upstairs he was already pulling away. He never came home."

"Wait... Didn't you move out?" Laura asked.

Oliver nodded. "A month after Alexander hit Gerald, we moved out of the state. Gerald left his brother a letter and a forwarding address, asking him to come find us and saying he forgave him... But none of us saw him again, at least not until now. For the rest of our time together, until Gerald settled down in Augusta, he would wince every time Alexander's name came up."

The younger two glanced at each other, and then Chad said, "He still does. He has since before we got here."

"After all this time... he still hasn't recovered from that day, five years ago... And now this..." With a long groan, Oliver finished his coffee and said, "Where is Gerald? I... I want to see him..."

"The first room on the right, this side," Laura replied.

Oliver pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door, tears marking his face.

Silence prevailed for several moments, neither of the remaining people in the suite having any idea what to say. It was a while before Chad finally said something, mostly in order to clear the air. "Gerald... everything he told me since he met made it sound like he was an only child... Like I am. He managed to keep it up for a year..." He shook his head, folding his hands in front of himself. "It must have hurt so much."

Laura said nothing, biting her lip softly as she looked to the other room. Both could hear as the door opened, and then a quiet thump, followed by muffled crying. They were not surprised - no father could stand seeing his child like that.

Trying to keep their minds off of it, Chad turned to Laura and asked, "How do you and your sister get along?"

"Jessica and I are really close," she replied, seeing his intention and going with it. "We always were, ever since I remember. Most of my life, we were the only thing we had, so it's only natural."

"Why were you two 'the only thing we had'? Didn't you have parents?"

The look Laura shot him was so filled with implied violence that Chad almost fell out of his chair. He stammered the letter "s" for a few minutes before she said, "Apology accepted." They were silent again after that.

**0000000**

Across the boundry of reality, the glass circle pulled to a stop, and Lucifer Allumette found himself pulled off it. The shackles around his ankles sprouted a length of long chain, allowing him to walk without giving him back any of his power. He frowned, tugging at the manacles on his wrists. "Rien," he muttered.

Standing next to him, the masked figure of Ralcietto raised a hand, reaching into the pink mist that enfolded the entire area around the two spirits. There was a click, and the mist rolled away, revealing that they were standing on a red carpet.

Lucifer truly started to worry at this point. He had not imagined the carpet into being, nor had Ralcietto. Someone of immense willpower was forming Mythos into this shape, and given their locale, that led to one name.

The mist blew back, and his suspicions were confirmed by what he saw. In front of him stood a gargantuan doorway, its frame shaped from silver and the hinges from crystal. The doors themselves were made of glass, thin sheets that held together with no visible signs of support at all. How they managed to stay in one piece was impossible to tell, but somehow they did. Lucifer knew from observation that an entire army's worth of artillery couldn't shatter the doors. The seal of Dreams, resembling those of Light and Darkness but with subtle differences, was carved into the doorway's center.

Ralcietto reached out and brushed the door with its hand. One by one, the panes flew off of the door, circled around, and landed on the ground beyond the entrance. The door continued to disassemble itself, and the panes formed a bridge, leading out into another bank of pink fog.

"Go forth, Allumette," Ralcietto said, shifting its mask. "And may the Divine protect you."

"At zis rate zat is all I can hope for." With a deep breath, Lucifer stepped onto the bridge, heading out into the distance.

**0000000**

A loud beeping noise resonated through the lair of the Darkness. It briefly gave pause to Degas, Alexander, and Bethany, until the first of the three snapped his fingers. One hand reached into his pants pocket, and he took out a small kitchen timer, jabbing the off button.

"It's that time already," he said to himself, shaking his head. "I had forgotten how long had passed. Our next step is about to begin."

"What next step?" Bethany asked, feeling herself slip out of the loop again.

With a soft chuckle, Alexander said, "Remember when we mentioned the next wave? We started preparing the first one back when the Pillars were still on the streets. Earlier today we adjusted how much dark energy it was getting, and since then it's grown in leaps and bounds..."

"While Alexander was... 'dealing' with Gerald," Degas said, his voice reflecting the quotation marks within the sentence, "I went down and made the final adjustments. At that point, I set the timer. Now... that time is up. You may not want to look, Bethany."

The air in front of them blurred, and... something emerged. A blur surrounded its body, so Bethany couldn't make out what it looked like in full, but it seemed to have two heads, facing opposite directions. Looking closer, it had two upper bodies to go with it.

Two voices came from the creature in unison as it turned its heads towards Degas: "We have awakened, Hand of Darkness. Where shall we strike?"

"The Minneapolis Hilton," Degas replied. "You should be able to sense your targets when you arrive. Take them aside and deal with them. Remember that we do not need the man alive... but try to take the girl unharmed."

The heads bowed. "We hear and obey." And then the air blurred again, and they disappeared.

"What are-" Bethany began, until Alexander set his hand on her shoulder and waved the other one in the time-honored "Ixnay" motion.

Eyes on the spot where they had stood, Degas smiled, saying to himself, "And with that... the second wave begins."

**0000000**

With the entity's awakening, the world around the obelisk had begun to reshape itself. The rubble from its base flew out in all directions, and assembled itself like jigsaw pieces, forming beautiful but unnatural structures. Buildings as dark as night sprouted from the ground, and the sky overhead rumbled as red lightning snaked through it, dark clouds gathering.

The entity itself had retreated back into the obelisk, and its eyes were shut, rendering it featureless. Thousands of images from all the known worlds whirled through its head, and it switched from focusing on one to focusing on another with impossible speed, taking everything in at once. Each one vanished as it was perused, only to be replaced by another as the entity caught up on events that had happened during its sleep.

Finally, its eyes opened again, and it spoke to itself: **AS I THOUGHT. REALITY NEVER CHANGES. IT JUST ENDURES.** It rose from its seat and made its way out of the obelisk, watching as a city built itself around it. **AH... JUST LIKE BEFORE. NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY RAZE GENHINNOM, A SINGLE THOUGHT IS ALL IT TAKES TO REBUILD IT.**

Lost in its reverie, the entity barely noted the twinge of sensation that sounded in its head. The twinge still affected it, however, and so it turned its thoughts towards it, extending a hand. Within its palm appeared an image, showing the strange man leading Father Young out of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

**HOW ODD,** it said. **I RECOGNIZE THE SPIRIT, BUT NOT THE MORTAL. I MUST SAY, THAT WAS FORWARD PLANNING ON THE SPIRIT'S PART - I HAD YET TO FULLY AWAKEN WHEN IT BEGAN TO ACT. AND IF THAT MORTAL IS WHAT I THINK HE IS...**

A chuckle left the entity's lips. **YOU CAN NEVER TRUST HUMANS. EVEN IF THOSE TWO FAIL, I NOW HAVE A... FALL-BACK.**

_Coming next chapter: In two different worlds, two different battles begin. In the world of Mythos, Lucifer Allumette faces the judgment of the most powerful forces of Dreams, with his continued existence at stake. In the world of man, however, Chad and Laura have no time to worry about him, as the Darkness makes its next move against them. They join forces against it, but as it so happens, their opponents are wielding very... familiar strategies. A tag duel? Perhaps... You will see in Chapter 33, "Reflected Power"._


End file.
